LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - A two-alarm fire destroys two homes early Tuesday morning in the City of Lima.
A call of a mattress on fire came in to Lima Fire dispatch around 3:30 Tuesday morning. Crews arrived to find the house fully engulfed with the fire spreading to the house next door. All occupants were were able to get out of the house.
A frozen fire hydrant caused issues getting water and mother nature wasn't helping either.
"Wind conditions forced it - it was a one story house right next to a two story house, so it forced the fire into the second house," said Dale Schultheis, battalion chief for the Lima Fire Department. "We had a frozen hydrant, which hindered our water supply, so it delayed fighting the fire."
Fighting fires in these extreme conditions becomes difficult for crews. A second alarm allowed them to rotate crews as they fought the blaze for the safety of the firefighters.
Fire officials say the homeowner called the fire in because of a mattress on fire.
"Physically, it's your gear freezes up, it gets harder to move, it's harder to bend over," said Schultheis. "You have to walk through snow, you have to drag hose lines through snow, and you have to leave the hose lines flowing just a little bit when they're laying on the ground, because they'll freeze up almost instantly. It just makes everything that much more difficult and it takes it takes a real big toll on the body."
Two firefighters did receive minor injuries that did not require treatment. Shawnee Fire Department was called in for mutual aid.
The exact cause of the fire has not been determined and the blaze remains under investigation.
The exact cause of the fire has not been determined and the blaze remains under investigation.
