DRYER FIRE SPARKS HOUSE FIRE IN HEBRON
BY TRACY HAYHURST Times Staff Writer
HEBRON - Damage estimates are expected soon on a house fire that
apparently started from an accumulation of lint in a dryer.
The laundry room of a house at 8951 E. 137th ave. in
Hebron bagan sometime Friday after Michael Vargas and his wife left
for work and after their two sons went to school, Michael
Vargas said.
His 13-year-old-son opened the door about 3 p.m. Friday
to find the house full of smoke. He grabbed the fire extinguisher
in the kitchen and when he realized the fire was in the laundry
room, kicked down the door and put out the flames, Vargas said
Sunday from his mothers house in Portage, where the family is
staying.
"My son couldn't see the damage and assumed it was a
small fire," Vargas said. "He went upstairs, where it was filled
with smoke, too, and called me. I told him to get out, and I went
ahead and called the fire department."
The fire had spread throughout the walls of the 2,400
square foot house that sits about 500 feet from the road. Vargas
said he arrived-after running out of gas on interstate 65 - to find
Hebron firefighters covered in soot leaving his house.
"The laundry room was gutted, and there is soot
throughout the house, from our toothbrushes to our underwear in the
drawers," he said. "It's unlivable right now."
Hebron fire officials could not be reached for comment.
Vargas said firefighters told him that lint build-up in
the drum behind the dryer caught fire. The blaze then worked its
way through the dryer's blower and the walls of the house.
But the damage could have been worse, he said, noting
that ammunition from his hunting guns was stored in the laundry
room but did not explode, nor did nearby cans of paint.
"Coats on the other side of the room melted. The heat
melted a metal door and the glass in it," Vargas said. "WE were
lucky."
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