Firefighters encounter heavy flames at vacant house fire in Dayton

DAYTON — Firefighters encountered heavy flames while battling a vacant house fire in Dayton late Sunday night.

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Dayton firefighters and medics were dispatched just after 11 p.m. to Riverside Drive and Mary Avenue on initial reports of a house fire.

Fire officials told News Center 7 there was heavy fire when firefighters arrived at the scene.

“Crews attempted to make entry, but due to the volume, we had to back some crews out,” said Matt McClain, Dayton Fire Department District Chief. “There was so much fire going in the back of the house.”

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He told News Center 7′s Malik Patterson that the house had been on fire previously and crews were aware of that.

“Some of our crews had been here before at the previous fire, so we knew there was already some structural damage to the house,” said McClain. “Unfortunately, with the heavy volume of fire we encountered, we had to back our crews out.”

Dayton firefighters fought this fire from what is called, a defensive position, according to McClain.

“We did what we call a tactical burn and we protected everything around the house, we just let it burn through the roof,” he said.

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McClain said the house was considered vacant by the city as both gas and electricity service had been shut off for some time. But neighbors told firefighters there were some homeless people living in that house.

“They were actually able to reach out to them,” he said. “We were able to confirm that the people living here were out at the time of the fire.

No injuries were reported.

McClain says the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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