Authorities say a house fire that is believed to have started when a dog house heater failed during a snowstorm was believed to be under control, only to break out and destroy a rural Dakota home. South
YANKTON, SD – Authorities say house fire believed to have started when a dog house heater failed during a snowstorm was thought to have been controlled Monday night to catch fire early Tuesday and destroy a rural home in South Dakota.
The Yankton Fire Department said the electric fire that started Monday in the dog house engulfed a warehouse, spread to the side of the house and settled in the attic. The fire also burned through a propane line attached to a 125-gallon tank.
Firefighters were home for two and a half hours Monday night and thought they extinguished the fire, which displaced four people and the dog, Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal Larry Nickles told Yankton Press & Dakotan.
When Nickles left the scene, two rooms were damaged by water and light smoke was reported elsewhere, but the house was in good enough condition that the heating was still on, he said. Firefighters cut holes in the metal roof of the house, but may not have located all the burning material, which led to the re-ignition on Tuesday, the deputy chief said.
The house had only a secluded garden space between the cathedral ceilings and the roof, which Nickles said was a factor in the explosion. Firefighters were called to the scene again around 5:15 a.m. when flames shot from the roof. At that moment, the storm had made the roof too weak to move on.
“Our estimate now is that the house has been totaled,” Nickles said. “The dog is not happy that he lost his home, but they were not injured.”