Investigators suspect dryer vent as cause, fire chief says
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
A dryer vent is suspected as the cause of a fire on July 4 that damaged the underside of a mobile home in the Town of Burlington.
Firefighters were summoned to the residence at 101 Waters Edge Circle about 6 a.m., according to Town of Burlington Fire Chief Ed Umnus.
“When we got their there smoke was coming out from the skirt around the bottom (of the mobile home),” Umnus said. “A neighbor was trying to put it out with a garden hose.”
Umnus said firefighters peeled back the skirt and made quick work of the flames.
The resident of the home escaped without injury and fire damage was limited to the underside of the home. Three of the support beams were charred by the blaze, Umnus said.
The resident was referred to the Red Cross for assistance while the condition of the home was assessed.
Umnus said investigators with the Racine County Fire Investigation Task Force suspect the fire had its origins in a clothes dryer vent that runs under the mobile home. A final determination is pending.
Because it was a residential structure fire, mutual aid from the City of Burlington, Village of Rochester and Town of Wheatland fire departments was sought immediately, Umnus said.
Additional units from Tichigan, Lyons, Kansasville and Medix and Paratech ambulance services also responded to the fire.
Firefighters were on the scene about 90 minutes, Umnus said.
Factory fire
Firefighters from the City of Burlington and surrounding communities responded to a fire at PCA, 1600 S. Pine St., Burlington, early Friday afternoon.
Workers at the plant told a news photographer on the scene that the fire started in a starch silo and said it was the second flare-up of the day.
City Fire Chief Alan Babe, who was out of town at the time of the incident, said the fire was limited to the piece of equipment in which the flames started.
The box-making and custom packaging company operates a full-line plant in Burlington, according to its website.
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