Blaze damages house in Middle Point

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

MIDDLE POINT — A turkey fryer is believed to be the cause of a weekend fire that did substantial damage to a home and left a Middle Point family of five homeless.

The call to the Palmer Road home came in shortly before 12:30 p.m. Saturday and smoke and flames were evident as Middle Point firefighters arrived at the scene.

According to Middle Point Captain Brock Profit, the turkey fryer was in use in the garage.

Mutual aid was called in and firefighters from Van Wert, Delphos and Grover Hill provided manpower and equipment, including water tankers. At one point, 23 firefighters were on the scene along with nine apparatuses.

In addition, Van Wert County CERT was at the scene to provide services, the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Department assisted with traffic control and Elite Drone Services of Delphos was utilized to find hot spots in the home to prevent rekindling of the flames.

There were no injuries and all emergency crews cleared the scene by 4 p.m. Profit said it’s not yet known if the home is a total loss and he added that family members were able to recover some personal items from the house.

Information on donations for the family is expected to be released soon by Van Wert County CERT.