Structure fire call closes busy Jasper street

Jasper — An operational smoke detector and the quick actions of first responders limited damages to a home on Sixth Street Thursday morning.

According to Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang, they were called to a possible structure fire at 505 Sixth Street at about 7:38 a.m. The caller reported they had seen flames underneath the door to a closet in an upstairs apartment at the home after being woken up by a smoke detector.

Damages were limited to a closet in the upstairs apartment since two police officers and a responding volunteer firefighter were able to enter the upstairs apartment and knock the flames down quickly.

The road was closed between the State Road 56 intersection and Newton Street for about half an hour as the fire department took time to ensure the fire was out and had not spread to other areas of the home. Hochgesang reported some materials in the bottom of the closet had caught fire inexplicably, and damages had been limited to those materials and a closet wall. A state fire marshall is expected to investigate the cause of the fire later today.

The Jasper Fire Department responded with 28 firefighters and three trucks, including the ladder truck. They were on the scene for about 40 minutes.

The upstairs apartment occupant and the homeowner were kept warm in the responding ambulance while the fire department checked for hotspots and cleared smoke from the home.

Hochgesang credited the smoke detector, the closed closet door limiting airflow, and the first responders’ quick response as mitigating factors in the fire.

“The smoke detector did wake him up,” Hochgesang said. “And that definitely made a big difference for us. It could have been much worse.”

The Jasper Police Department and Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services assisted at the scene.