A heater that kept a family warm during the recent ice storm also caused that family to live in a travel trailer in the backyard.David Smith, the homeowner at 611 S. 4th, told firefighters that a built in gas heater in a bathroom was the main source of heat for his family during the power outage that was caused by the Jan. 28 ice storm.
Last Thursday night, a malfunction in the heater caused the bathroom to be engulfed in flames.
Marlow firefighters were called the Smith residence just before 9:30 p.m.
Marlow fire chief Jerome McCalvin said a neighbor alerted his department after seeing smoke “pouring” from under the home’s eaves.
“When we arrived, there was smoking coming from the eaves of the home,” McCalvin said. “Initially, we believed it could have been an electrical issue, and the attic was on fire.”
Instead, flames were spotted in a bathroom in the southwest corner of the home.
“The heat and smoke from the fire was entering the ventilation system of the home,” McCalvin explained. “That caused the smoke to be visible around the outside of the residence.”
The intense heat also caused ceiling fans, near the vents in the ceiling, to begin to melt.
“That was something I have never seen before,” McCalvin recalled.
The fire came under control by 10:15 p.m., as firefighters used an engine truck, although the ladder unit and a tanker were also dispatched to the scene.
McCalvin’s initial damage estimates are $60,000, as flames, heat, smoke and water damaged areas around the bathroom and down a hallway.
“No one was home at the time,” he said. “They were down the street.”
McCalvin noted the age of the heater, and its recent use, could be to blame for the blaze.
“David said that they used the heater day and night to stay warm during the power outage,” the chief explained. “It was built into the wall, probably since the house was first constructed. Because of the age, and the recent use, there was a malfunction.”