Three Fire Departments Respond To House Fire

Wills Point emergency personnel responded to a house fire Sunday evening at a residence on Private Road 7396, north of Wills Point off of FM 47.

"There was a lot of flame and smoke coming out of a front bedroom window," said Wills Point Fire Marshal Larry Byford. "The fire had already ventilated itself, and had gotten into the attic."

Firefighters made a forcible entry through the front door, and were met with heavy smoke throughout the house.

"Flames came out of the bedroom into the hallway and another bedroom," Byford said, and estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the house was a loss.

"We were paged out at about 8:30, and had the flames knocked down by around 9 p.m.," Byford said.

"There was some salvage work and we used a thermal imaging camera to make sure there wasn’t any fire in the walls. It’s hard to distinguish between steam and smoke, so we use thermal imaging to make sure the fire is out."

Byford reported that the most heavily charred area was centered around an electrical plug that was completely destroyed. He said that something had been plugged into the outlet, but it was unidentifiable due to damage.

"That would be an area of suspicion," he replied when asked about the cause of the fire.

A total of 13 Wills Point emergency personnel responded to the call, including 11 volunteers.

"This department is making a tremendous showing as far as having enough people to get the job done," Byford said, and added that the Edgewood and Point fire departments responded with water trucks.

Neighbors told firefighters that the house was used as a weekend getaway for the owners, who were not at the residence at the time of the fire. The owner was listed as Michael Dodd.