No injuries after early-morning house fire in Jasper

Jasper–No one was injured in a house fire that Jasper Volunteer Firefighters responded to early Friday morning

Crews were called to a home on Plymouth Street at 1:11 a.m. for a report of smoke, according to Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang. When Jasper police officers and the first firefighter arrived, they saw black smoke coming from the house. The female resident had already gotten out safely, alerted by a working smoke detector.

Upon making entry, firefighters found the fire had started in the basement, where a dehumidifier had burned. Hochgesang said the unit was a standard store-bought model.

Fortunately, the fire was kept from spreading because there were no other combustible materials near the unit. “Had there been [combustibles], it would have been a large, much larger fire,” Hochgesang said.

Hochgesang credited the home’s working smoke detector with getting the resident out safely.

Deaconess Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service evaluated the resident on scene; she was not injured.

Since the interior of the home is coated in residue from the toxic smoke, the resident is staying with family while working with her insurance company to begin cleanup.

Eleven Jasper firefighters and four fire trucks responded, along with Jasper City police officers and Dubois County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who assisted before the scene was fully secured. Crews were on scene for about an hour and 20 minutes.