Hamilton Fire Investigator Tom Angst said the house sustained approximately $40,000 in damage – mainly to the second floor – after a lit candle started the blaze in Jordan’s bedroom around 6:15 a.m.
“When I woke up, there was a bad smell, so I thought I’d light a couple candles and incense to get things smelling better and pass out,” Jordan said. “And there it (the fire) was.”
Jordan, the only person who lives at the house, was not injured. He did, however, lose his most precious possession: his bedroom set.
“I loved that bed, man,” Jordan said. “The whole bedroom is gone.”
Neighbors said they saw flames and plumes of smoke billowing out of a second-floor window at approximately 6:20 a.m. before fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze shortly thereafter.
Angst said he inspected one smoke detector, which did not have any batteries, and said crews were on the scene for about an hour and a half.
“The bedroom was fully engulfed in fire and it was coming out of the windows,” Angst said. “Crews got in there quickly and got it knocked down fairly quickly.”
Jordan said the incident is definitely something to learn from, and even though he wanted to make it to work on time, he was late anyway. He earns his living cleaning five area homes a week.
“I’m not going to let this get me down; I have to roll and learn from it, I guess,” Jordan said.
Staff Writer Tiffany Y. Latta contributed to this report.
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