A family with a newborn baby is staying with relatives after a dryer caught fire at a Kelly’s Trail home Sunday night. Response from fire departments was delayed due to a blocked roadway onto the property.
“Based on past experience we knew that would be impassable,” Acme Delco Riegelwood Fire Rescue Chief Steve Camlin said.
The fire was at a home on Kelly’s Trail, off Swimming Hole Road in Delco. Camlin said family disputes over the property had led to the private road being blocked.
The fire spread from the dryer into the ceiling and cabinets, Camlin said. The owner tried to use a fire extinguisher on the blaze, but the brand-new fire extinguisher malfunctioned.
“That left him to try to use pots and pans of water to help his wife and newborn baby escape,” Camlin said.
Meanwhile, fire units from ADR, Northwest, Bolton and Buckhead were trying to get to the scene.
“We had a hard time getting the apparatus down Kelly’s Trail because of a blocked driveway,” Camlin said. Deputies from the sheriff’s office helped manually move a grain trailer, while other fire equipment “came through muddy farm roads and were delayed getting on the scene.”
The fire was quickly knocked down, Camlin said, but the home and contents sustained heavy smoke damage. The fire was caused by a faulty wire in the stacked washer dryer set, Camlin said.
The family will be temporarily staying with relatives, Camlin said.
The fire could have been much worse, Camlin said.
“Law enforcement tried to awaken the property owner who blocked the driveway,” Camlin said, but no one answered the door. Officials are trying to contact the owner to keep the road open in case of future emergencies, Camlin said.
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