WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — Two firefighters were hospitalized overnight for observation and two cats were pulled from a burning home as six Fayette County agencies converged on the 500 block of East Paint Street on Friday, according to the Washington C.H. Fire Department.
UPDATE (July 19, 1:30 p.m.): This story has been updated with additional information from the Washington C.H. Fire Department.
Washington Court House Fire/Rescue Department, dispatched out of Station 100, handled frontline fire suppression and scene command. Crews arrived to find smoke and fire showing and immediately called in mutual aid from BPM Joint Fire Association and Jefferson Township Fire & EMS to bring additional resources to the scene, the fire department said in a Facebook post.
In the middle of the operation, crews rescued two cats from the home. Both animals are doing well, the fire department said, crediting the fast work of firefighters and Humane Law Enforcement of the Fayette Regional Humane Society.
Firefighters rotated through rehabilitation stations throughout the incident, standard practice for extended fire responses. During that process, EMS personnel identified medical concerns in two firefighters, who were transported by Fayette County EMS to Adena Fayette Medical Center for evaluation as a precaution. Both were admitted overnight for observation and released the following day, the fire department said.
Jefferson Township Fire & EMS, out of Station 500, provided mutual aid and tactical support, while the Washington Court House Police Department handled scene security, traffic control and public safety coordination, according to the fire department. Fayette County Box65 Scene Support, a volunteer support unit, assisted at the scene, and the Fayette County EMS District worked to safeguard firefighters’ health and provide rehabilitation for crews working the incident.
The response also drew in Fayette County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers, the Fayette County Humane Agency, the American Red Cross, the Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office, and utility crews from AES and CenterPoint Energy, the fire department said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office alongside the fire department’s own investigators. The extent of damage to the home was not immediately available.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Fayette County EMS District and the Washington C.H. Fire Department.
