Full story: Fire in 2nd St. home forces Primary School to close
Residents and pets safe
SANDUSKY — A complex attic fire broke out just before 7 a.m. today at 1134 2nd Street, leading to the emergency cancellation of classes at the nearby Sandusky Primary School due to heavy smoke.
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Sandusky Fire Chief Mario D’Amico said two residents and their four pets (two dogs and two cats) all escaped unharmed, but the home is likely a total loss.
“The main body of fire was confined to the attic space,” D’Amico said. “But the attic space was made up of multiple different roof systems that had been added onto over the years... it took about an hour for them to extinguish it because they had to pull all the ceilings.”
The “layered” roof—where new pitches were built over old flat roofs to shed water—created a barrier for firefighters. “You’ve got a roof on both sides of the fire basically,” D’Amico explained. “You can’t just pull a ceiling and have access.”
The smoke was so dense that the principal of the primary school, located just a block away, alerted the department that contaminants were entering the school’s ventilation system. “In order to make sure everybody was safe... they went ahead and canceled school for today,” D’Amico said.
While a fire investigator is still on-site, the Chief said the residents saw “embers coming down from the attic” near the furnace room before evacuating.
“I don’t think that the residence will be salvageable,” he concluded.