{"id":203082,"date":"2026-02-24T21:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=203082"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T03:12:11","slug":"tuesday-blaze-destroys-dixon-home-one-person-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/02\/24\/tuesday-blaze-destroys-dixon-home-one-person-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"One dead after house fire in Dixon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong><em>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DIXON &#8212; A full investigation is underway after a seemingly bizzare incident in extreme western Van Wert County Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly before 10:30 a.m., Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s deputies, along with Convoy Fire &amp; EMS were dispatched to a home in the 3500 block of Ohio Indiana State Line Road on the Ohio side of Dixon. The home was engulfed in flames and Payne Fire &amp; EMS, the Monroeville, Indiana Fire Department and Van Wert Fire Department were summoned for tankers and manpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite their efforts, the small home was completely destroyed by the fire and just a small part of the frame was still standing. A nearby vehicle also caught fire and was destroyed. Crews were still at the scene mid-to-late afternoon hosing down hot spots in the remnants of the house.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"367\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dixon-house-fire-2-24-2026.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-203081\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A house and vehicle were destroyed by the fire in Dixon. One person died in the home. <em>Bob Barnes\/VWFD photographer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Early Tuesday afternoon, it was confirmed that one person died in the fire. That person\u2019s identity is unknown but authorities believe it was likely the homeowner. According to Sheriff Tom Riggenbach, who was at the scene, the body was sent to the Lucas County Coroner&#8217;s Office for identification and an autopsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sheriff Riggenbach also confirmed there was a report of shots fired before the blaze broke out and he said it remains under investigation. During the mid-afternoon hours, deputies could be seen examining a neighboring house and what appeared to be bullet holes. However, it\u2019s not known if the bullets were fired manually or if they exploded as a result of the fire and hit the neighboring structure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also unknown what started the fire. Two investigators from the State Fire Marshal\u2019s Office were at the scene, along with the Van Wert County Coroner\u2019s Office. Van Wert County CERT and the Allen County, Indiana Sheriff\u2019s Department also assisted at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Sheriff Riggenbach said at some point, when it\u2019s known exactly transpired is clear, more information will be released.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dixon-house-fire-II-2-24-2026.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-203087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dixon-house-fire-II-2-24-2026.jpg 960w, https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dixon-house-fire-II-2-24-2026-550x367.jpg 550w, https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dixon-house-fire-II-2-24-2026-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is all that remained of the house after Tuesday&#8217;s fire. Bob Barnes photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor DIXON &#8212; A full investigation is underway after a seemingly bizzare incident in extreme western Van Wert County Tuesday morning. Shortly before 10:30 a.m., Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s deputies, along with Convoy Fire &amp; EMS were dispatched to a home in the 3500 block of Ohio Indiana State Line Road on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-11 03:07:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203082"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203146,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203082\/revisions\/203146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}