The Saline Reporter
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Firefighters battle 2 blazes
Goetz family's dog alerts them to chimney fire before smoke detector
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2008
The fire behind the wall grew while the Goetz family slept.
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Britton and Tasha Goetz were awakened in the early morning hours of March 9 by the family dog and moments later heard the smoke alarms sounding in the basement.
Then the smoke detector upstairs went off, too.
Britton and Tasha gathered their two children and within a minute were outside their Eastlook Drive home.
It was 4:30 in the morning.
"When I was standing tall, I could tell the smoke was at a pretty high level," said Britton Goetz. "When I ran into the family room, I noticed behind the wall to the left of the fireplace was on fire."
The fire likely had been building slowly for hours, said Saline Area Fire Department Chief Craig Hoeft, who estimated the damage to be $30,000 to $40,000.
Though the damage was largely limited to one exterior wall, he said, the fire had made its way up into the attic.
"It all worked out pretty well in the end," Hoeft said. "I think they found out that smoke detectors work."
The fire on Eastlook Drive was the first of two chimney fires the Saline Area Fire Department responded to in the span of two days.
The second fire occurred midmorning Monday on Hedgerow Drive in Lodi Township. The damage there was considerably less than the Sunday fire, Hoeft said, because it was caught sooner and did not have a chance to move into the attic.
It has been a relatively quiet winter in terms of chimney fires, Hoeft said, but the two fires two days in a row should serve as a caution to other homeowners.
"It's important to have your chimneys inspected every year," Hoeft said.
The Goetz family is staying with family while the extent of the fire's damage is determined.
Britton Goetz praised the Saline Area Fire Department's response to the emergency, saying the response was fast and that the firefighters were "thoughtful, considerate and informative."
"The Saline Fire Department was tremendous," Goetz said. "They will see us at their next chili cook-off, that's for sure."
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