Firefighters were called to Huffman and Seminary avenues just after 6 a.m.
“They arrived and found a boarded-up house with heavy fire throughout,” Grubb said. “As we arrived, the second floor inside collapsed.”
Crews did not enter the house due to the collapse and instead used defensive measures to extinguish the fire, he added.
It’s not clear what caused the fire. There was no electric or gas in the house.
There was a dumpster in the side yard, so the house may have been in the process of being renovated, Grubb said.
Winter conditions can make responding to fires more difficult than usual, as the cold can be hard on firefighters and their apparatus, he explained.
Cold weather can result in icing as crews fight fires, which can make it easier for firefighters to slip or trip.
The area near the fire was slick Wednesday morning, so firefighters contacted the City of Dayton to get salt crews to the scene, Grubb said.
He also reminded people of the importance of having working fire alarms.
“Smoke detectors save lives,” he said. “I can’t stress that enough.”
As temperatures continue to drop this winter, Grubb said anyone using space heaters should be aware and make sure there aren’t any combustible items nearby.
He also reminded people not to plug space heaters into extension cords or power strips.
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