A house fire in Edgerton early Friday morning has left one resident dead and two others with burns.
The Edgerton Fire Department responded quickly to the blaze at 224 W. Vine St. (U.S. 6) but the house was fully engulfed and is a total loss. Assistance came from the Butler, Bryan, Florence Township and Hicksville Fire Departments.
Two males, an adult and a 2-year-old, escaped the blaze and went to a neighbor’s house for aid. The two had burns on their legs, Chief Scott Blue said. The
Ambulances took the pair to Bryan before they were sent by helicopter to Mercy St. Vincent in Toledo. Blue had no word on their condition, citing medical privacy laws.
A female in the home died in the blaze. A cause of death was not released.
The Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death, Blue said.
The state fire marshal is handling the investigation into the blaze. The office was brought in because of the fatality, Blue said.
The firefighters spent a couple of hours getting the blaze down and conducting preliminary investigation. They were able to locate the woman’s body. It is believed the victim never woke up.
The fire may have begun in the living room, but an exact cause may be difficult to determine as the blaze likely destroyed much of the evidence, Blue said.
The couple were in the process of purchasing the house and were engaged to be married, he said.
Crews faced a challenge as the fire hydrants closest to the blaze were frozen shut and firefighters had to go around to the west some 700 feet before finding a hydrant to supply water. Before then the crews used water from Edgerton tankers as well as Bryan and Butler trucks.
Crews returned to the scene around 5:30 a.m. to douse the house again and will likely return before sunset to do apply more water. There was some smoke rising from the burned out husk around noon.
A chaplain from Bryan Fire Department counseled the firefighters on the scene and at the firehouse. The fatality was the first in Blue’s 47 years with the department, he said.