At 9:10 a.m. Saturday, the Merrill Fire Department was dispatched for a possible structure fire at 1809 Jackson St., in the city of Merrill.
Upon arrival, Engine 62 assumed command and reported no smoke or flames showing, the resident and some neighbors were outside of the house on the southeast corner of the home using a garden hose to extinguish the fire. Further investigation by command revealed the exterior corner of the house had started on fire. Thanks to some quick action by neighbors and the occupant, along with assistance from the Merrill Police and Fire departments, the fire was quickly extinguished, before major damage occurred to the structure.
The occupant stated he had a recyclable container and a 5-gallon bucket next to the container that he utilized for smoking materials. He states the only thing he threw into the container this morning was hot bacon grease. The recycle bin and 5-gallon smoking bucket were melted, fire had crawled up the vinyl siding at the corner of the house into the soffit of the structure. Merrill Fire companies completely extinguished the fire and then did overhaul looking for any hotspots. Overhaul included pulling vinyl siding, aluminum soffit and insulation. A thermal imaging camera was utilized to look for any hotspots within the walls of the structure.
This could have been a tragedy, according to Merrill Fire Department, there were two young children and two family dogs inside the home at the time but thanks to the quick action of the neighbor and occupant possible tragedy was avoided.
After an investigation Merrill Fire Units cleared the scene. No injuries were reported and damage to the structure was limited to the siding, aluminum soffit and some smoke damage to the exterior of the home. Firefighters were on the scene for about an hour.