No injuries reported after house fire near Shawano

No injuries were reported following a second-story house fire on state Highway 47-55 in the Town of Wescott in the early hours of Dec. 7.

“Shawano Area Fire Department was paged roughly around 7 a.m. for a structure fire with fire coming through the roof,” said Shawano Area Fire Department Fire Chief Shawn Borlace.

Borlace said that fire was on the second floor of the house and produced heavy flames and smoke. When arriving, Borlace said that basic protocol was followed, with 24 firefighters arriving on scene. He said that there was one man who lived in the house, who was given assistance from Shawano Red Cross, but did not experience an major injuries. He added that fire crews had the fire under control, about an hour and half after arriving, but were on scene for about four hours to run the investigation.

“We confirmed that everyone was out of the house and we did an offensive attack to knock the fire down,” said Borlace. “We checked for any fire extension on the adjacent floors and went from there.”

He added that the cause of fire is undetermined and under investigation, but ruled out any criminal activity.

“There was no foul play,” said Borlace. “We did a routine investigation — there was major damage to the house.”

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com