by Samuel King – WSBT News

GRANGER — Firefighters say a recent fire in Granger shows the danger in some newly built homes. The fire heavily damaged a house in the Saddlebrook subdivision in Granger on May 10. Firefighters say it spread so quickly, they had to get out of the house and fight it from outside.

Harris Township Fire Chief John Vance says soon after crews arrived, they ran into problems. He told WSBT News a number of new homes, like the one that burned, have void or empty spaces that are sealed off and can allow a fire to get out of control.

“There was a large area involved, it went over 10 minutes, at which time it was an indication to us that we were not making any progress,” Vance said. “The fire was indeed getting worse and started to break through the roof. So at that time, our incident commander made a great call and evacuated the building.”

Vance says other modern building techniques can make fighting fires hazardous.

“Instead of a solid wood beam, this beam is actually pieces of wood melted together,” Vance showed WSBT News, holding a beam to illustrate his point. “The glue starts to melt out of this at 400 degrees. We don’t have a lot of time once this is on fire. It rapidly spreads.”

Homeowners like Randy Schultz of Granger told WSBT News those concerns are news to them.
“This is the first time I’ve heard that and obviously it’s a little disconcerting, a little bit,” Schultz said.
He said he does what he can to make his house safe.

“You can’t tear the house down and rebuild it,” he said. “So you just have to take every precaution you can take. Smoke detectors in the proper rooms and on every floor. And just do the normal things you’re supposed to do to prevent fires.”

Vance says it’s important fire departments spread the word about the dangers.

“The builders aren’t purposely trying to do this to firefighters. But it’s important for the community to know that we’re really under the gun when we arrive at a fire,” he said.

Industry representatives have said these techniques or lightweight construction products pose no extra risk when it comes to fire or building collapse than when using traditional methods.

Besides smoke detectors, Vance recommends homeowners buy residential sprinkler systems or tie in a smoke alarm to their security system. He also recommends people call 911 as soon as they think there’s a fire in their home, because response times are critical.

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