2 alarm fire destroys home in Petersboro

Smoldering walls from a fire in Petersboro at 43 North 5545 West. 

<strong>PETERSBORO —</strong> Nothing was left but smoldering debris, after a two alarm fire destroyed a log-home Tuesday night. The fire was reported at 9:35 p.m. at 43 North 5545 West in Petersboro.

Ray Olsen of the Mendon Fire Department, was the first one on the scene and said the “fire was incredible.” Olsen has been a fire fighter for 39 years. He said he has never seen a fire burn as hot as this one did.

“We stretched a line to the door, thinking we were going to make an offensive attack on this one and go in and see if we could extinguish the fire,” said Olsen. “By the time we stretched a line to the front door, the darn thing just blew up on us and it just went from there, to full fledge glory in less than 30 seconds.”

There were no hydrants in the area so a tender task force was dispatched. Even with pump trucks, crews still struggled to get enough water to fight the fire.

A large propane tank was also near the home and crews were concerned, it could explode. A second alarm was activated when it was determined that additional personnel were needed. Olsen said fire fighters from Logan, Wellsville, Hyrum, Newton, and Trenton all assisted in fighting the fire.

The home was built 18 years ago and recently purchased by Brian Tibbits. He had been remodeling the home the last several months. Tuesday night he was working in the kitchen with a saw, when the fire started. According to Tibbits, the saw blade hit a floor spike and sparked.

Because of the remodeling, Tibbits’ family are living with relatives, so no one else was in the home at the time of the fire. Tibbits said he still feels like this is all a bad dream.

Olsen said the fire was extinguished after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. State Fire Marshals were going to be at the home Wednesday to investigate the fire further.

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