Crews Battle Post Thanksgiving Day Fire

Carlton County Dispatch reported a passerby noticing smoke coming from a residence along Highway 210 in Sawyer on Friday November 25th around 0759hrs. The address provided fell under the structural fire contract with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa leading to a coordinated response with Carlton Volunteer Fire Department. Battalion 3, Engine 2 , Engine 22 and Squad 6 responded from CAFD, Ladder 610 and a tanker responded from Carlton VFD and an additional tanker was requested from Cromwell VFD since this area is without hydrants.

Upon arrival, crews found heavy smoke coming from all sides of the residence with a fire seated inside the basement. Crews from the first arriving companies made an initial interior attack but because of the unknown time the fire had been burning, were pulled from the residence by Incident Command until the house was properly ventilated and decision on how stable the flooring material on the main floor of the residence was. Once determined which areas were accessible, crews aggressively and quickly knocked down the bulk of the fire in both the basement and the main floor.

Overhaul procedures were then initiated, however were time consuming for the areas that needed the most attention were unsafe for crews to access due to the instability and holes in the main floor. The CAFD investigation team was also requested to the scene to initiate cause and origin procedures. Crews were on scene for 4 hours and there were no injuries. The fire remains under investigation