Lake Helmerich fire displaces family

A fire Christmas night destroyed a Lake Helmerich home.

According to authorities, no one was home at the time and no one was injured, but the family lost all of their possessions. Local Red Cross representatives were able to find lodging for them overnight.

Holland Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire at 8:23 p.m. after a neighbor reported the fire at the South Lake Shore Lane residence belonging to the Kirk Brown family, according to Dubois County Dispatch.

Holland Assistant Fire Chief John Hemmer says the house was fully engulfed when they arrived on scene.

He said in a phone interview Friday morning that the fire was already burning through the roof when they arrived.

Firefighters were able to save the family’s vehicles and most of the family’s pets, three cats and two dogs, have been located. A cat may still be missing at the time of this report.

Five trucks from Holland were on scene for almost three hours fighting the fire and stayed at the scene until 4 a.m. this morning to ensure hot spots didn’t reignite. Additional tanker support was called in from Huntingburg Fire Department. Firefighters from Stendal and Spurgeon also assisted.

An investigator with the state fire marshal’s office will be in on Monday to attempt to determine the cause of the fire.

The Dubois County Sheriff’s Department and Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services assisted with the incident.

Contact the local American Red Cross office at 812-471-7200 to assist the Brown family.