Fire destroys historic home in Delphi

DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI) - A nearly 140-year-old home went up in flames Friday night just outside of Delphi.

Idaville Volunteer Fire Department was the first crew on the scene. Fire Chief Scott Simons said it took hours before the fire was out.

"It's a historic, big old house. A lot of fire because it's full of hardwood," Simons said about the home. "We couldn't put it out by ourselves. We needed all the help we could get on hauling water in here."

The house is at the end of a long driveway making it difficult for crews to get water to the house.

"We only had room for two engines to pump water and we just ran a tanker shuttle up and down the hill, trying to keep them supplied," Simons said.

Crews from area fire departments like Delphi, Camden, Burnettsville, Rockfield, Georgetown, Chalmer, and Monticello all helped extinguish the fire.

Simons said they were called to the house located at 6183 West Towpath Road after reports of a chimney fire around 7 p.m. When crews arrived the whole house was engulfed in flames.

"They [firefighters] began an attack through the front door," Simons said about the plan of action to put out the fire. "They weren't making much progress because there was a lot of fire in the whole house."

That front door is what homeowner Brice Ward said he wants to try and save from the rubble. Ward told News 18 the front door to the historic home was the only one of its kind.

Ward said the home was built in 1872 by the Speece-Neff family. In 1922 Ward said his great-grandmother bought the four story home. The historic house was home to five generations of the Ward family and even survived a tornado in 1952, according to Ward.

According to Simons the cause of the fire is still undetermined due to extensive damage. No one was injured in the fire.