Early Morning Duluth House Fire Causes $80,000 in Damage

DULUTH, Minn. – An early Thursday morning fire caused an estimated $80,000 in damages to a home in Duluth’s Observation Hill neighborhood.

The Duluth Fire Department says crews responded to reports of a fire just after 7:00 a.m. on the 700 block of West 4th Street.

When crews arrived at the home they found heavy smoke coming from the back of the two-story single-family home.

All occupants were able to evacuate the home safely before crews arrived at the scene.

Two holes were cut in the roof above the second level to ventilate heat and extinguish the fire above the ceiling of an addition to the rear of the main level of the home.

Due to the amount of water applied to control the fire, there was extensive water damage in the home.

Structure and content damage is estimated at $80,000.

There were no injuries reported.

The Duluth Fire Department wants to remind the public to not drive over hose lines when crews are working to control a fire.

While crews were working to put out the blaze this morning several vehicles ran over the hose line putting several holes in the line.

This is very dangerous for firefighters since the loss of water supply on a fire scene can make a difficult operation much more dangerous.

“It is a frustrating act to witness. Water pressure in a 4-inch yellow supply line contains pressure of over 100psi. That hose from the hydrant to the pumper supplies the water firefighters need to control the fire and to keep other buildings from catching fire. A break in that hose line will cause a water disruption of 5 minutes or more. Depending on our operation, this may not be enough time to evacuate our crews. In addition, should someone drive over a smaller attack line and puncture that, fire crews would experience an immediate loss of water and would be put in grave danger. The issue of catastrophic water loss can be prevented simply by never driving over a hose line on a fire scene,” said Duluth Fire Assistant Chief Brent Consie.

The Duluth Fire Department would like to remind the public that if they come upon an emergency scene with emergency vehicles and deployed hose lines please detour around the area.