Fire claims home of Washburn family
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
A grease fire that started over the weekend claimed the home of a Washburn family, as the trailer house burnt to the ground Saturday morning.
The Washburn Rural Fire Department responded to a call late Friday evening that a grease fire had ignited in a trailer home at 59 Northview Drive. The call came in just minutes before midnight, but the home was already beyond saving within minutes, fire chief Clayton Verke said.
“We were there within probably five minutes and it was up in flames,” Verke said, noting that older trailers often don’t have sheetrock or other materials to slow down potential fires. “All you have is wood frame, maybe some plywood and paneling.”
The home, occupied by a Washburn couple and their son, barely had anything left an hour later, Verke said. Firemen on scene at about 1 a.m. Saturday said the hoses were doing little to suppress the flames, so they were letting the fire burn lower before hitting it hard with water. Verke said the men finally had the fire completely extinguished at about 4 a.m., but that the trailer was a complete loss.
