Nov. 12, 2018 – Hartford, WI – The residential fire off of Goodland Road in Hartford has been extinguished and the home declared a total loss.
About a dozen fire departments responded.
“We were paged at 2:37 a.m. and arrived back at our station at 8:01 a.m. and at 8:45 a.m. we actually had to go back out to the fire for a rekindling,” said Joel Braunschweig, Fire Chief of Woodland Fire Department. “It was a 3 box alarm level with 12 fire departments and approximately 75 personnel.”
It wasn’t the smoke alarm that woke the homeowners, but rather their video doorbell system, Ring.
“His phone went off because of a motion sensor,” said Braunschweig. “It went off a couple times and he finally got up to check the front door, finding the porch and home was on fire. The family of five, including three adults, two children, and a dog, went to the basement and broke a window to escape.”
The home, originally built as a cheese factory, was remodeled within the past year. “It was difficult with that type of construction to get in there, but the family wasn’t hurt,” said Braunschweig. “A firefighter did receive care for non-life threatening injuries.”
The fire is currently under investigation by the Woodland Fire Department and Dodge County Sheriff’s Department.
Foul play is not suspected.
With the home being a total loss, along with two vehicles, the family is in need of donations, especially clothes. Their sizes are listed below.
8 year-old boy, size medium 8/12, size 4 shoe
13 year-old boy, size XL 16, size 8 men’s shoe
women’s, Large top, 15/16 bottoms, size 9 shoe
men’s, Large top, 34/32 pants, size 12.5 shoe
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on W691 County Road S is collecting donations on behalf of the family.
You may call Pastor Jeff Drake for more information at 262-673-2082 OR 262-622-2797.