Fire damages Swede Mountain home

A Swede Mountain home suffered extensive smoke and fire damage last week after the heat from a fireplace contributed to shorting out an electrical switch and setting a wall on fire.

“The fire got into the wall back behind the insert and ignited the wall and went up to the cathedral ceiling,” said Dan Leavell, Cabinet View Fire Department chief. “Because it had no air, it reaches a point where it just blows up, but it didn’t get to that point.”

Homeowner Denise Schnackenberg came home early from work Tuesday, Leavell said, and called for help when she saw smoke coming out of the windows and eaves of the house.

The fire, trapped within the closed off home, blew out the first pane of a large window when firefighters arrived, and threatened to break the second pane within minutes, Leavell said.

“If it had broke out it would have fed the fire with all that oxygen,” he said, “and the house would have blown.”

Firefighters quickly cooled the fire with water and ventilated the house.

“There was extensive smoke damage but structurally it could have been gone,” Leavell said. “It was probably a couple thousand degrees on top there.”