Fire Damage

An early-morning fire severely damaged the second floor of the Jessamine County Property Valuation Building Friday, located at 116 N. Main St., directly across from the Jessamine County Courthouse annex building. The blaze was discovered by a Kentucky State Trooper who was on his way to work around 5:15 a.m. “When I got to CVS (drug store), I noticed the smell of smoke,” officer Edwin Tillman said. “So I drove on down and spotted the building and on the right hand side, there was a lot of smoke coming out, so called it in.” The Nicholasville Fire Department was called out, and when they arrived, they found the second floor of the building fully engulfed, fire chief Charles Brumfield said.

The Clark County Fire Department offers a few tips for hay storage as summer approaches. - Hay rolls stored close to a roadway may be subject to fire damage due to cigarettes thrown out or other hot embers produced by passing vehicles. - Try storing hay in several locations rather than in one spot, to avoid a fire destroying everything. - Leave space between rolls to help prevent a fire from spreading. - Storing hay inside that is not fully cured could also lead to a fire.

A Danville woman and her daughter escaped a burning house this morning after waking up surrounded by flames about 7 a.m. Peggy Coulter said she was sleeping on a couch in the front room of the house she rents at 243 Randolph Hill and awoke because the couch was on fire. Coulter said she woke her daughter and they attempted to douse the flames with water before calling 911. Deputy Chief Woody Ball said crews were able to quickly extinguish the flames. The front room where the fire started sustained fire damage, and there was smoke damage throughout the home, Ball said.

— During the weekend, emergency personnel conducted seven local transfers and eight out-of-town transfers. They also responded to seven general medical calls, four falls, five cardiac cases, two motor vehicle accidents, one stroke, four respiratory cases, three seizures, one assault, one overdose, one diabetic case and one engine assist. — At 12:38 p.m. Sunday, firefighters were called to 501 Kiwi Drive for a possible fire in a mobile home. Firefighters removed the underpinning and found a fire near the furnace that ignited the insulation under the trailer.

- At 1:39 p.m. Friday, firefighters responded to an injury accident on Lafayette Boulevard. - At 11:22 p.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to an all-terrain vehicle accident at 1466 Elkin Station Road. - At 7:37 p.m. Sunday, firefighters assisted EMS¿personnel with a call on Sewell Shop Road. - At 8:54 p.m. Sunday, firefighters were called to 2535 Ecton Road for a structure fire. The residents left food on the stove, which caught on fire while they were outside.

MORELAND - A late night lightning strike caused an attic fire Tuesday at a house on Hatcher Road in Lincoln County. Fire Chief Danny Glass said Brian and Carolyn Cooper called 911 about midnight when they realized smoke was coming from the attic of their two-story house. Glass said a bolt of lightning hit a nearby tree, splintering it, and may have hit the attic as well. Fire damage was contained to the attic, and the blaze was under control after the first hour, he said. A firefighter was taken to the hospital and treated for exhaustion.

HARRODSBURG - A Mercer County man was burned in a Christmas Day fire at his mobile home. Jeffrey Darnell of 4717 Talmage-Mayor Road was next door at his parents' home when he noticed a fire at his home about 2:15 p.m. Terrapin Fire Chief J.B. Claunch said Darnell tried to get into the home where he lives alone to save some things but received second-degree burns to his face. The fire appeared to have begun in the center of the home, and Claunch said the wood stove in the center of the house may have been the cause, although he could not be certain.

Investigators are digging into why a home on Pendleton Street caught fire and burned Tuesday night. Winchester firefighters were called out at 9:09 p.m. to 114 Pendleton St and found a single-story home burning heavily. Winchester Fire-EMS Chief Danny Castle said the fire was already burning through the front windows when the first units arrived, and the fire was endangering a neighboring house. Most of the fire damage was contained to the living room and the front of the house; the rest of the structure received heavy smoke damage, he said.

A Kentucky State Police investigator said there was no evidence of an explosion, but arson is the suspected cause of the March 14 fire at the home of West Jessamine High School principal Albert Crout. "I've determined that it was intentionally set," KSP Trooper Kevin Dunn said. "From my investigation, there is no evidence of an explosion. " Dunn would not comment any further on the case, saying the investigation was still on-going. Crout was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

The Nicholasville Fire Department suspects arson in a fire at a senior-care home last Wednesday, Aug. 31. Firefighters responded to Rose Terrace Lodge at 401 N. 2nd St. after 1 p.m. and found a fire in a residential room. Fire chief Charles Brumfield said his crew limited the fire damage to the one room although there was smoke and water damage throughout the south wing of the building. No injuries were reported. “They had a very quick knock-down and limited the damage of the fire to that one room,” Brumfield said.

PERRYVILLE - Crews were called to a fire about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday at a vacant house on Webster Road southeast of Perryville. The fire, which caused major damage, began in the rear of the house and had not yet spread to the rest of the structure when crews arrived. The remainder of the house suffered only minor smoke and water damage. The fire was ruled accidental, with an undetermined cause. According to Boyle County Assistant Fire Chief James Coffman, the department investigated the fire afterward, despite it not appearing to be suspicious, something they do with every fire.

Nicholasville police are working on an indictment in the case of several one-step meth labs that were found as firefighters battled a fire at a duplex on Mill Street in Nicholasville last Thursday. “We're waiting to present it to the grand jury,” Nicholasville police Sgt. Scott Harvey said. “There probably won't be any charges until the investigation is complete and we present it. It should be about two weeks.” The discovery of the labs came about a year after someone was arrested for manufacturing the drug out of the same home, Harvey said.

A meth-lab explosion likely was responsible for a fire at a duplex on Mill Street in Nicholasville on Thursday evening, about a year after someone was arrested for manufacturing the drug out of the same home, Nicholasville police say. It is too early in the investigation to know for sure whether the meth lab was indeed active, and whether it did in fact cause the fire, though investigators believe that to be the case, said Nicholasville Police Department...

The control box for an air compressor may be to blame for the fire that destroyed the offices at Rod Hatfield's used car lot Wednesday morning. Winchester Fire-EMS Maj. Greg Beam said it appeared the fire started in a garage bay used for cleaning autos located behind the offices. There was a vehicle parked in that bay that received heavy damage. Most of the buildings on the property, including the offices, the detail bay and another four-bay garage received heavy fire damage and may have to be demolished, Beam said.

STANFORD - A floor collapsed while Stanford firefighters were inside a blazing house Sunday, but no one was injured and the fire was successfully extinguished. Assistant Fire Chief Robin Jones said the duplex on Lancaster Street probably caught fire sometime around 7:30 or 8 p.m. "When I got here, there was fire blowing through the roof," he said. Jones said firefighters tried to get in through the back door to fight the fire, but the ceiling came in on them. Another attempt to get inside and put out the flames was also thwarted when the second-story floor collapsed while he and firefighter Rodney Floyd were inside the structure.

- At 1:39 p.m. Friday, firefighters responded to an injury accident on Lafayette Boulevard. - At 11:22 p.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to an all-terrain vehicle accident at 1466 Elkin Station Road. - At 7:37 p.m. Sunday, firefighters assisted EMS¿personnel with a call on Sewell Shop Road. - At 8:54 p.m. Sunday, firefighters were called to 2535 Ecton Road for a structure fire. The residents left food on the stove, which caught on fire while they were outside.

An early-morning fire severely damaged the second floor of the Jessamine County Property Valuation Building Friday, located at 116 N. Main St., directly across from the Jessamine County Courthouse annex building. The blaze was discovered by a Kentucky State Trooper who was on his way to work around 5:15 a.m. “When I got to CVS (drug store), I noticed the smell of smoke,” officer Edwin Tillman said. “So I drove on down and spotted the building and on the right hand side, there was a lot of smoke coming out, so called it in.” The Nicholasville Fire Department was called out, and when they arrived, they found the second floor of the building fully engulfed, fire chief Charles Brumfield said.

HUSTONVILLE - Firefighters quickly put out a fire Saturday evening at a Main Street business after responding to a report of smoke and flames coming from the back of the structure. The fire at Hafley's Florist & Gift Shoppe, 9828 East Main Street, was reported about 5:15 p.m. and firefighters from county stations and Hustonville made short work of the blaze and saved the building. “We knocked it down and got it under control pretty fast,” said James Lane, chief of Lincoln County Station Fire Station 3 in Moreland.

The Nicholasville Fire Department suspects arson in a fire at a senior-care home last Wednesday, Aug. 31. Firefighters responded to Rose Terrace Lodge at 401 N. 2nd St. after 1 p.m. and found a fire in a residential room. Fire chief Charles Brumfield said his crew limited the fire damage to the one room although there was smoke and water damage throughout the south wing of the building. No injuries were reported. “They had a very quick knock-down and limited the damage of the fire to that one room,” Brumfield said.

PARKSVILLE - Firefighters were able to salvage most of a Boyle County house after a blaze this morning. A neighbor called 911 about a fire in the home of Sherri Edwards at 225 Church St. off Ky. 300 near Parksville shortly before 7 a.m. The house is just up the hill from Boyle County Fire Station 3, and Assistant Chief Paul McCrystal said the first crew arrived quickly. Firefighters made an internal attack in a back room where flames were showing and contained the fire primarily to two rooms.