Holes in floors make Kettering house fire too risky

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

UPDATE @ 11:50 p.m.: Fire crews did indeed find holes in the floors — and "a large trench hole" as well on the first floor — at the Kettering house fire on Rockhill Avenue, Battalion Chief Mike Miller said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said, and investigators plan on speaking with neighbors and the property owner of the unoccupied house.

“We were here once before in April, which is why we didn’t go inside,” Miller said. The holes were from a previous fire, he said.

“We do know there is a large trench hole in the first floor, so we weren’t going to send anybody inside and risk firefighters’ lives and risk injury to save a house that nobody’s living in,” Miller said.

He said crews allowed the flames to burn through the roof a bit to get at the flames and to make sure those flames were kept away from neighboring homes.

FIRST REPORT

Crews sent to a house fire in the 300 block of Rockhill Avenue in Kettering are finding holes in the floors, we’re hearing.

The fire was dispatched about 10:45 p.m. on a report of a structure fire in a two-story dwelling with heavy flames showing.

Crews are reporting heavy smoke from the attic. There are no reports of any injuries. We will update this developing report.

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