Winona home burns, fire cause probed

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Winona home burns, fire cause probed
Story by JO ANN BOBBY GILBERT, Lisbon Monring Journal Staff Writer on 10/30/2006.

WINONA — The cause of a fire that destroyed a Carey Road home Saturday night has not been determined, although a tree was knocked onto the home during high winds earlier in the day.

Ironically, the home in the 3100 block was owned by Carla Vickroy, daughter of Hanover Township fire Chief Tom Vickroy, who ended up battling the blaze that left his daughter and grandchildren with only the clothes on their backs.

The family was not at home when the fire erupted, having left after the tree caused severe damage to the structure.

Chief Vickroy said they had turned off the electric and hauled frozen food to his house to prevent spoilage, taking only a change of clothing for family members.

At 11:30 p.m., a call came in that the one-story frame house was on fire, according to Winona Assistant Chief Gary Walton.

The roof was gone, but the walls were still standing when more than 40 firefighters and 15 trucks from Winona, Hanover Township, Damascus and North Georgetown cleared the scene at 3:30 a.m., Walton said, noting, “They lost everything.”

While Chief Vickroy said the fallen tree “definitely caused the fire,” Walton said that has not yet been confirmed.

Vickroy’s assessment that insulation and debris from the fallen tree must have smoldered for hours has not been determined, Walton said, adding an insurance adjuster is expected on the scene today.

Vickroy said his teen-age granddaughter was trapped under debris from the impact of the tree for a while but was extricated with no injuries.

He and his family planned to return to the house Sunday morning to begin cleanup and repairs.

Vickroy expressed his dismay at not having realized a fire was smoldering in his daughter’s home, and the longtime fire chief said while there was insurance, “It never replaces everything. It doesn’t replace the personal things.”

Walton said the Red Cross was on the scene and provided the family vouchers for some clothing and other necessities.

jgilbert@mojonews.com