By Conrad Dudderar
Associate Editor
Yukon fire investigators are looking into what caused a late-night fire at a home in the Parkland I Addition.
Firefighters responded shortly before midnight Monday to 2512 Sequoia Park to the reported structure fire.
The fire was in the attic of the home, Yukon Fire Chief Shawn Vogt said.
“It had been up there smoldering for quite a while before we got the phone call,” Vogt said.
“There was a lot of damage; it was pretty much a total loss in the top of the house, in the attic area.”
There were no injuries and all occupants had safely evacuated the house.
Temperatures dropped sharply during the day Monday and fire crews had to battle the frigid cold while fighting the fire. The home’s steep driveway provided a challenge as well.
“The (water) run-off freezes and it makes it a little bit more hazardous for the guys on the scene,” Chief Vogt said.
The occupants told fire crews they had an issue with their fireplace hours earlier, according to the chief.
“But they felt they had everything under control,” Vogt said. “We haven’t finished any investigation yet, so that might have been one of the causes – they were having trouble with their fireplace earlier that evening.
“They might have had some chimney issues and it was up in the attic, and they couldn’t tell because it was small enough.”
Many residents lit their fireplaces for the first time this season after this week’s dramatic dip in temperatures.
“Once (the fire) got big enough to where (the residents) could start smelling it, it had been smoldering long enough,” Chief Vogt said. “When our guys got on scene, it was a pretty big fire as soon as it got air.”
Yukon Fire brought to the fire scene the department’s ladder one, engine one and engine two. They were on scene about three hours.
Meanwhile, Bethany and Oklahoma City firefighters responded on mutual aid.
