SAFD quickly extinguishes blaze

By Casey Krautkramer

The Stratford Area Fire Department (SAFD) on Tuesday night responded to a fire in the attic of a three-story residential home that was built in 1916 as the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church convent.

Tim Carey, SAFD fire chief, said his department received the emergency call at 8:20 p.m. for a structure fire at 213231 Varsity Street from Stratford Police Department officer Sydney Nussbaum who saw flames coming from the home’s attic. Nussbaum evacuated homeowner Mike Lippe and his wife.

“We were on the scene in three minutes and were able to make entry immediately and make our way to the third floor and extinguish the fire in the attic,” Carey said. “We only used approximately 150 gallons of water to put out the fire due to the fact that we were able to get to it so quickly once we got on scene.”

He said SAFD fire fighters didn’t have too much difficulty extinguishing the blaze.

“It was a little bit of a challenge due to the three flights of back-and-forth stairs,

See STRATFORD FIRE/ page 16

HOUSE FIRE RESPONSE- Firefighters on Tuesday night check the former St. Joseph’s Catholic Church convent in Stratford, which is now a single family house, for hot spots after extinguishing the fire in the third-story attic. The convent was built in 1916 and is located across the street to the east of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and school.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Stratford fire

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but our guys are well trained and knew exactly what to do by making a quick attack to knock the fire down right away,” Carey said.

The 1991 Stratford Centennial book says the first resident pastor of St. Jospeh’s Catholic Church was Father Martin Caspar, and during his time here from 1902 until 1912, the convent was erected. This was outgrown by 1915 and in 1916 a three-story convent was built.

Carey explains what is believed to be the cause of the attic fire.

“The cause of the fire is undetermined, but it is believed to have been an electrical issue,” Carey said. “Mike (Lippe) was having an electrical issue in that area of the house earlier in the day, and he had called an electrician that was supposed to come the next morning. The house is definitely not a total loss because the only damage is to the third floor.”

SAFD received mutual aid from the Edgar, Hewitt and McMillan fire departments and Wood County Rapid Intervention Team (RIT).

“The McMillan Fire Department’s ladder truck was there as an emergency egress for the fire on the third floor,” Carey said. “We did not use it to flow water; all the work was done inside the house to extinguish the fire.”

Carey said for about a year now SAFD has received mutual aid for structure fires from Wood County RIT, which he said is comprised of firefighters from most of the fire departments in central and northern Wood County. Firefighters in Wood County RIT are trained to rescue fellow firefighters who become trapped or injured in a structure fire.

“We have eight members of SAFD who are RIT trained now and are part of the Wood County RIT team,” he said.

SAFD left Tuesday’s village of Stratford house fire scene at 11:30 p.m.