Teens save dogs from Reo Street house fire
Two dogs were rescued from a house fire by neighboring teens. Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the Columbus Fire Department, says firefighters were dispatched to 111 Reo Street for a possible structure fire at 1:17 p.m. on Wednesday.
A witness told investigators that Shannan Lawson saw the smoke and called out for her son, Jackson, 18. Jackson said that he and a 17-year-old friend ran to the house and knocked on the door. Jackson told investigators that he knew his neighbor had dogs in the home and that the neighbor was likely at work. Jackson said that smoke was coming from the windows and doors as he knocked on the door and called out to anyone who may have been inside. He said that there was no reply from the interior of the home, including an absence any barking from the dogs. Jackson and his friend kicked in the door and found the two dogs in the bedroom. Both dogs were rescued and removed from the smoke filled home before firefighters arrived. Neither the dogs, nor the teens, were hurt.
Crews arrived on the scene to find light smoke coming from windows and doors. An interior extinguishment crew entered to home and found a small fire confined to a bedroom. Crews reported that the fire had burned a two foot by two foot hole in the bedroom floor. Firefighters attempted to access the homes crawl space from an opening on the exterior of the home. Due to the size of the access door and the inability for a firefighter to enter the space with firefighting gear, firefighters used a chainsaw to cut a crawl space access hole in the bedroom floor. After gaining access to the crawl space, firefighter discovered two floor joists were significantly damaged by fire. The entire area was doused with water.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Damages to the home are estimated at $10,000.