Staff Reports
A family in the 5200 block of West Quan Wae Drive quickly evacuated after hearing what they described as noises in their basement followed by their home filling with smoke.
German Township Volunteer firefighters were sent to the home at 10 p.m. Thursday, said Fire Chief Matt Lynch.
The home had working smoke detectors which warned the family about the fire. The four adults, along with a 3-month-old and three dogs, escaped the home without injury.
German Township’s crews arrived a few minutes later to find smoke pouring from the front door. The fire was located in the basement and firefighters used a pressurized extinguisher to put it out.
Fire crews remained on the scene for just over an hour to ventilate all the smoke from the house and ensure the air quality returned to a normal level as checked with air meters.
The fire started in the back up battery system for the sump pump and rapidly spread up the wall to the ceiling, Lynch said. The fire caused a water pipe along the ceiling to break open and pour water onto the fire acting like a sprinkler. This allowed the fire to remain small and firefighters to extinguish the remaining fire that was outside the reach of the broken water pipe.
German Township had 11 firefighters on the scene and was assisted by Columbus Township and Harrison Township fire departments, Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies and the Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center.
