MINSTER — Two teenage siblings are safe after being temporarily trapped in their Minster house during a fire Monday morning. The family of four have been displaced as a result of the fire.
Minster Fire Chief Rich Prenger said he was paged at 7:03 a.m., on Monday, Nov. 29, on the report of a structure fire at 145 S. Hanover St. The structure contains to two units, one in the front and another in the back. The fire started in the living room of the front residence.
“The actual knock down of the fire didn’t take very long at all. We used less than 250 gallons of water,” Prenger said. “The Minster P.D. was there too; they got there right before I did. I was more concerned about the kids hanging out the window, and the P.D. had brought out a couple of fire extinguishers. And so they forced the front door and discharged the fire extinguishers on the front door, so that helped.”
Two teenage siblings were trapped inside on the second floor due to the fire downstairs, which started after their parents already left the house for work that morning, he said. The male and older of the two was able to come out onto the window seal and drop down to the ground, he noted. The female was helped down by firefighters with a ladder.
“He got himself out the window and was hanging from the window seal, and being more of less (the size of) an adult male, not a child, basically dropped down from that second-story window,” Prenger explained. “Some of the guys grabbed a ladder to get the girl down, and then stretched the line to knock down the rest of the fire.”
No one was injured during the incident, Prenger said. He noted the teens were checked out on the scene by Minster EMS and didn’t need to be transported.
Only the front apartment was deemed unlivable; the rear apartment was not affected. The displaced family is staying with their family, Prenger said, and did not need the assistance of the American Red Cross for help with a place to stay.
Along with Minster Fire, EMS and Police, New Bremen Fire also responded to assist with the fire.
Investigators from the Fire Marshall’s Office was called to the scene around 10 a.m., he said, and although they could determine the origin of the fire began in the living room, they could not determine the cause. The fire did not appear to be suspicious, Prenger said, and the cause has been ruled undetermined.
