Firefighters battle home blaze in downtown Columbus

Note: This story has been updated

A family escaped a home fire Tuesday morning on Chestnut Street in Columbus, but the home is a total loss and several pets were killed.

According to the Columbus Fire Department, firefighters were called to the 1400 block of Chestnut Street at just after 10 a.m. in the morning and found the house with heavy flames billowing out the front. The fire was so hot that vinyl siding was melting on a neighboring home. Not knowing if anyone was at the home, firefighters entered and searched the residence, finding no one trapped inside. The family, a woman and her child, had sought shelter at a nearby home in the 1500 block of Chestnut.

Firefighters then concentrated on attacking the fire from the exterior with water while cooling the neighboring home. The home was quickly extinguished and firefighters spent another 25 minutes dousing hot spots.

The woman told firefighters that she was in the kitchen when she smelled smoke and found a fire with heavy smoke in the living room. She initially tried to put the fire out with a pitcher of water, but had to grab her child and retreat out the back door, where she went to the neighbor’s and called 911. The woman and child were checked by medics and were found to be uninjured.

Firefighters estimate that the home was a total loss with more than $60,000 in damages. The American Red Cross is providing shelter to the family.

The neighboring home also received about $2,000 in damages to the siding.

Several cats also died in the fire.

Columbus firefighters were assisted at the scene by Columbus Police, Columbus Regional Health medics, Columbus Township Fire and Rescue, Columbus City Utilities, Duke Energy and Vectren Energy.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department. Columbus Firefighter Andrew Vehslage prepares a fire hose for a fire attack at a single family Chestnut Street home on Tuesday morning in Columbus.