TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
On Saturday evening, Aug. 3, 2024, the Merrill Fire Department (MFD) was dispatched for a report of smoke coming from a house on Genesee Street in Merrill. According to the MFD, while en route, dispatch advised that there was an occupant “upstairs” in the building.
Visible smoke could be seen in the air area from several blocks away, the MFD and area residents reported.
“Upon arrival, MFD was met with significant fire and smoke coming from the first and lower levels of the home,” a press release said. Engine 61 approached the back of the house from the alley where dark gray/black smoke was coming from both the garage door and garage service door and the first-level roof and windows of the house and a significant amount of fire was also visible, the MFD incident report said.
MFD went into rescue mode and, while preparing to enter the home, learned that all people were out of the house, so they switched to an offensive attack on the fire itself, beginning with the garage. An open entry door to the home was closed to reduce the amount of oxygen supplying the fire and gas was shut off at both meters; however, smoke was seen exiting around the gas pipes.
Fire crews also attacked flames in the kitchen area where they found the heaviest concentration was in the stairwell that came up from the garage, according to MFD’s report.
“With the assistance of several area fire departments, crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire and prevent any damage to surrounding homes,” the MFD release said. Mutual aid fire departments from the City of Antigo, Town of Russell, Village of Maine, South Area Fire and Emergency Response District (SAFER), City of Tomahawk, Town of Pine River, and Town of Corning all responded to the scene, and staging was set up on W. Main Street near Brooke’s School of Dance.
Multiple fire crews were employed to monitor the lower level for possible rekindling of extinguished fire, look for additional fire within the house on all floors and in the attic, and perform overhaul.
A member of Corning Fire Department was utilized as the Safety Officer, a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) was readied, and Pine River Fire Department served as staging officers. Upon arrival of Chief Finke of SAFER, MFD turned over scene command to him. After witnesses were interviewed and mutual aid departments were released from service, fire watch continued for 1-2 hours to watch for new hotspots or possible rekindles “due to elevated heat levels inside of the structure due to its construction as well as exposures on both sides of the involved structures,” MFD’s report said.
Three individuals, including two occupants of the house that were inside the home when the fire was discovered and one police officer, were evaluated on-scene for smoke inhalation, with two of the three transported to Aspirus Merrill Hospital for future treatment.
Due to extensive damage to the house, no one was permitted to re-enter the building. The occupants of both apartments in the home have been displaced.
The cause of the fire is currently undetermined, the MFD said.
