The cause of the fire has not yet been determined; crews were still investigating Saturday afternoon.
“They’re still damping down hot spots in here, so it’s still active,” said Sgt. Greg Moore of the Oxford police. The dollar amount of the damage has not been determined, but Moore called it “significant.”
Joe Weirtz, a Miami University junior, ran to the house, where his former roommate used to live.
“They got to the point where they were shooting multiple hoses at the house. There was a real orange, red glow and the smoke was everywhere. I woke up this morning, smelling like I was at a bonfire, just from standing 30 yards away. It was a big deal,” he said.
At first, “the fire looked like it was pretty much just in the basement … the next thing you know, they’re smoke rising from the top,” Weirtz said. He had been in in the house in years past, and he felt bad when he and the current residents watched it go up in smoke.
“I think the hardest thing for me was seeing the kids who live here whose stuff was here. This is something they take pride in. It’s a great-looking house. To watch it burn was really hard,” he said.
Amber Celesti of Mason, who just graduated from Miami this month, saw the fire from Skippers bar, across the street from the house.
“All this smoke was coming out of the balcony windows … it was just so chaotic and scary, because at that point, no one knew if anyone was still in there. But thankfully, no one got hurt,” she said.
Celesti said the fire seemed to originate from a kitchen area at the rear, then “the smoke was going out the front and then it kind of caught the framework and the roof and it spread everywhere. The fire trucks and police never stopped coming, and they brought in cherry pickers. It was just crazy.”
“There were fire engines and emergency teams from all over the area. Oxford, Reily, Hamilton, Ross, College Corner was here,” said Mark Johnson, a general manager at Skippers. He said there were about five to seven people living in the house, but there would have been more if fire had broken out when school was in session three weeks ago.
Numerous fire departments were called to the scene to assist with the blaze. Monroe’s fire chief told Local 12 News that the home is more than 100 years old. Because of the amount of brick and heavy timber, the home held in a lot of heat, making the fire more difficult to fight than most.
The home has serious fire damage and the roof appeared to be destroyed. The initial alarm came from a kitchen area, but an investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing, according to reports.
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