Massive Kenosha County house fire believed to be caused by battery explosion
Brighton, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A home in the town of Brighton is a total loss after a massive house fire that brought a variety challenges for first responders on the scene.
Kansasville Fire Chief, Ronald Molnar says the house fire broke out in a rural area with no hydrants. He says this caused them to call in back up with around 20 fire departments from across the state and even Northern Illinois stepping in and help.
"Anytime you’re outside of a municipal water supply where they have fire hydrants, you know that’s it’s a challenge for everybody, but it’s something that we practice for, we train for," said Mulnar. "That’s what we do. That’s the nature of the beast.”
Molnar says crews arrived to the home fully engulfed in flames and heavy smoke along the 23000 block of 18th Street around 1 p.m.
Using nearly 100,000 gallons of water and no fire hydrants in sight, the chief says it was no easy task for crews having to use tankards and water from sources across the area.
"It's a very staged and predetermined response so that you don’t take all the resources from one geographical area, so that allows everybody to maintain response capabilities in their home jurisdictions,” said Molnar.
He says no one was in the home at the time of the fire, but the families two dogs, hamster, cat and salamander are believed to have perished in the flames.
Crews were also cautious dealing with ammunition in the home and used an excavator to dismantle the structure and ensure the fire was fully extinguished.
"Because the house sits off the roadway in a very wooded landscape area here the fire could’ve been burning for over two hours long before anybody even noticed," said Molner. "They first saw it because there were heavy black smoke pools in the air."
Chief Molnar says the fire is believed to have been caused by lithium-ion batteries that the resident had recently put on a charger, which he says likely overheated and exploded.
CBS 58 was able to capture some photographs of the extensive damage using a drone:
