Otterbein fire destroys home and two duplexes

OTTERBEIN, Ind. (WLFI) - Twelve fire fighters responded to a house fire in Otterbein early Sunday morning, and after half an hour, had the fire under control. Several hours later, they were back again. On Monday morning? Again.

Otterbein Fire Captain David Hutsell said the home collapsed inward, creating hot pockets that can continue to smolder. He said this particular home had hot pockets that were difficult to extinguish.

"Basically, the fire that really keeps flaring is in the middle of the house where we can't get to," said Hutsell. "We had crews come in and put more water on it and we have not been back since. So, I'm hoping we've got enough water that's finally soaked in to that middle section of the house to keep it from flaring back up."

Hutsell said the house on Church Street in Otterbein was home to a family of seven.
At the time of the fire, the family had only lived there three days.

Hutsell said he lives just a few blocks away from the home, and said when he received the 911 call, he could see the black smoke from his window. Just minutes later, he said it looked even worse.

"By the time we left to get to the station and get here, we had heavy fire already out of the roof," said Hutsell. "It looked like the sun was coming up at 5:00 in the morning."

Fire officials said the fire didn't just affect the family living in this home. In fact, they say it spread to the duplexes next door, displacing two other families.

"At this point, what's left in the duplexes is going to be unsalvageable," said Hutsell. "Chairs, and what have you, there's nothing that we could have saved there."

Hutsell said despite using more than 17,000 gallons of water, the house where the fire started is also a total loss.

Hutsell said he's just thankful nobody was hurt, and said a fire this size, had the potential to cause massive amounts of destruction.

"We got pretty lucky, because I think if we didn't get it under control like we did, we would have had a big mess on our hands," said Hutsell. "We could have had the potential of losing the whole block."