The Middlepoint Fire Department was in charge of the scene, receiving assistance from the Van Wert Fire Department and the Ohio City Fire Department. They saved most of the house, but the attached garage and the vehicles inside it were completely destroyed.

The three departments had the fire under control quickly. They then spent a lot of time making sure there were no remaining hot spots or hidden fires that could flare up and do more damage after the firefighters left.

The DAT provided hot and cold drinks to the firefighters and homeowners, as well as other assistance to the homeowners. The team stayed on scene until the firefighters were done, arriving back at the garage at 6:30 AM.

The fire turned out to be a large one, with 5 area departments contributing men and equipment. The Ohio City Fire Department was in charge of the scene, with mutual aid being provided by the Wren, Van Wert, Rockford, and Mendon Union Fire Departments. There were 71 firefighters on scene, with traffic and crowd control being handled by the Ohio City Police Department and the Van Wert County Sheriff.

The team provided aid to the family that lost their apartment, and started making arrangements for the delivery of food and other supplies to give support to the firefighters. The Ohio City Village Hall was opened up to give the firefighters a warm place to take a break and eat before heading back out to the fire.

The firefighters were hampered by the cold temperatures and lack of water due to work that is being done on Ohio City’s water system, but they managed to save one of the buildings on the block. A house that was downwind of the fire was threatened by the burning embers, but they also managed to keep it from suffering any fire damage, although it did suffer some water damage from the amount of water they needed to use.

The various assisting departments were finally released to head home starting about 2:30 AM. By about 4:30 AM, the Ohio City Fire Department was on their own, keeping what fire was still going under control until daylight and the arrival of equipment to tear down walls and allow them to get at the remaining fire. They were finally able to finish up early in the afternoon of the 13th, with many of the firefighters having been up well over 24 hours.

The DAT continued to provide support for the firefighters until they were finished, finally returning to the office at about 1:30 PM. The Red Cross would like to thank the many area merchants and restaurants the generously donated to support the efforts of the firefighters.

• Marathon Pak-A-Sak
• Chuffers
• Pizza Hut
• McDonald’s
• Burger King
• Taco Bell
• Wendy’s
• Walmart

The house was unoccupied, so the team acted to provide drinks, both hot and cold, to the firefighters from the Van Wert Fire Department. The ERV was also available as a place to warm up from the 10 degree weather when they needed it.

The fire had already spread widely throughout the house before the firefighters arrived, which, combined with the bitter cold and problems with the water supply, resulted in a great deal of damage to the building.

Despite a few spots where the fire was difficult to reach, the firefighters were able to get things contained fairly quickly, starting to pack up at around 11:00 PM. The team arrived back at the garage at about 11:30.

Thank you to Butlers Bakery for the sandwich buns, Cooper Farms for the Turkey, and the Culinary Arts Class for the Vegetable Soup and Noodle Soup.

Thank you to all the donors for your help in saving a life.  There were 311 donors signed up and a total of 285 Units of blood collected.

Barbara A. Hesseling receives 11 Gallon pin from Red Cross Volunteer Diane Stewart

Marilyn Bebout had a good experience donating blood while the Red Cross Blood Drop posed for the picture.

The Convoy Fire Department was the first responder, calling in mutual aid from the Van Wert Fire Department, the Scott Fire Department, and the Ohio City Fire Department, at one point having 35 personnel on site. The departments prevented the fire from reaching the home on the property, although the barn was destroyed and a smaller out building received burn damage. The fire fighters did save some small livestock that was kept in the barn.

After the fire was out, the departments called in Ron Dull Excavations to use some heavy machinery to move the debris of the barn. This enabled them to check the site for hotspots and make sure the fire was out much more quickly and certainly then trying to do the work by hand.

The DAT provided some welcome liquid refreshments to the firefighters, and also delivered some sandwiches that were donated to the firefighters by McDonalds at the Towne Center. The team remained on site until the fire fighters were packing up, returning to the garage at about 8 PM.

The DAT remained on the scene providing support to the fire fighters and extending aid to the family that lived in the house.