Staff writer
Stray embers from a wood stove likely caused a wood-shingled roof to ignite at approximately 2 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Eisenhower St. in Hillsboro, officials say.
“The flames were about 30 feet high,” Hillsboro fire chief Ben Steketee said. “The fire didn’t get inside the house much, but the roof was almost completely destroyed.”
He said the house’s occupants made it out of the structure by the time Hillsboro firefighters arrived. The fire was extinguished in about 40 minutes, he said, during which the occupants and worried neighbors stood by.
“It is fortunate that there wasn’t much wind,” Steketee said. “We were able to save the surrounding structures.”
He said the ceiling, insulation, and a lot of water “made a big mess” inside the burning house, but most of the occupants’ possessions were not burned.
Marion fire also responded to assist with the interior attack on the fire, Steketee said.