A fire engulfed a home at 2930 Cedarbrook on Tuesday evening, leaving a family of six displaced.
Robert Holding owns the home that he and Chantel Catron share. Combined, they have four children. The fire was thought to have been caused by a lightning strike, but has not been officially determined. The home was considered a total loss.
Firefighters fought the blaze for five hours. One was rushed to Allen County Regional Hospital after suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Firefighters took the call at 5:36 p.m and did not return to the station until 10:40 p.m.
?It is so secluded back in there that once it was brought to our attention the whole back end and garage area were fully engulfed,? Iola Fire Chief Tim Thyer said.
?We used the ladder truck. We could not make any interior entry due to the fact there was so much fire when we got there. Nobody noticed it until the fire was already over the trees.?
Holding was working on a truck in a nearby Quonset building Tuesday afternoon as a round of storms rolled through.
He heard a loud crack of a nearby lightning strike, not long before an acquaintance popped his head into the building to say, ?Your house is on fire!?
Fire destroyed the home of Robert Holding and Chantel Catron, with their four children, Tuesday evening. REGISTER/ERIC SPRUILL
Holding looked outside to see the A-frame house fully engulfed in flames.
With only wood walls ? the home had no drywall, Holding noted ? it wouldn?t have taken long for anybody inside to be trapped by the rapidly growing fire.
?I?m just glad nobody was in there,? he said.
Holding, Catron and their children are staying at the Super 8 Motel for the next two weeks, until an insurance adjuster can determine the damage and they can begin to rebuild.
?I love living back there, and I don?t want to move,? Holding said of the location near the old golf course. ?I don?t think I?ll put another two-story house in. We?ll probably go with something modular.?
Not only did Holding lose his home, he also lost a boat, mowers, trimmers, a chainsaw and other tools he uses for his lawn care business.
