Family ignores burn ban, home goes up in flames

There were no injuries in the fire.

ST. JOSEPH COUTNY, Ind. – After burning yard debris on Tuesday, just 24 hours later on Wednesday a family’s grass caught fire which spread to their home. Clay Fire Department said the home on Buckeye Road  had excessive damage and that the owner said he didn’t know there was a burn ban across the county.

A nanny and her baby where inside the home just before noon on Wednesday, that’s when Fire Marshal Dave Cherrone said she heard two loud noises. When she looked outside that’s when she saw black smoke rolling across the grass.

With the combination of dry temperatures and strong winds, the pile of debris that was burned the night before caused the grass to caught fire quickly.

"When we tell people it takes seconds to spread its seconds to spread," said Cherrone.

He said it took the fire department about four and half minutes to get on scene and by then the fire had already spread to the back of the house.

It took the department about thirty minutes to get the fire under control.

Cherrone said the fire department feared an accident like this one might be inevitable since the area had recently had some rain.

"The little bit that we got was not enough to do anything and we were kind of afraid that people might think that oh it rained so everything is wet and fine, but until its wet and green it’s not fine," he said.

A number of departments responded including Clay, Niles, Penn Township and Cleveland Township.

Cherrone said it’s important to stress that burn bans mean just that…no burning, absolutely none.