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Last updated on Tuesday, November 28, 2017
(COLUMBUS) - A fire Monday night severely damaged two homes, displaced two families and destroyed one family’s hidden stash of Christmas presents.
A teen girl first noticed the fire between the two homes on County Road 150 West at about 10 p.m. Monday when she got up to use the restroom. She alerted her family and her father, Matthew Goff, woke the next door neighbor, Michael Jones.
Columbus Fire Department Capt. Mike Wilson says that the fire consumed a wooden privacy fence and crates, before spreading to a garage and the neighboring home's attic.
Firefighters arriving on the scene had to call in for an extra engine and more firefighters after the second home caught on fire.
The room above the family's garage was seriously damaged, which is where the Goff family had been storing the hidden Christmas presents for their five children. The family will be working with the Columbus Firemen's Cheer Fund to replace those presents.
Investigators estimated that the fires caused about $40,000 in damage to the first home and about $65,000 to the second home and its contents.
The Goff family is being assisted with temporary shelter by the Salvation Army, while Jones is staying with family, Wilson said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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