WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — Firefighters from three departments spent Friday evening battling a stubborn blaze that gutted an abandoned grain elevator building at 926 Clinton Avenue, according to the Washington Court House Fire/Rescue Department.
Crews were dispatched at 6:14 p.m. Friday for a reported possible grain silo fire. While en route, the responding crew identified a working structure fire and requested mutual aid from Jefferson Township Fire, which sent a ladder truck, and Concord Green Volunteer Fire, which covered the home station, the department said in a Facebook post.
Upon arrival, crews confirmed the fire was burning in the grain elevator building adjacent to the grain bins, not in the silo itself, the department said. The structure formerly housed conveyors used to move and distribute grain, rather than storing it, and had been abandoned.
Because of the building’s condition, no firefighters entered it. Crews instead fought the fire defensively using two ladder trucks, and a drone was flown after the fire was knocked down to help assess conditions inside the structure, according to the department. The property owners were on scene throughout the incident, working directly with fire leadership on next steps.
The cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation, the department said. Investigators are asking anyone with home security or dash camera footage from the area before the fire was reported — particularly footage showing activity in the vicinity beforehand — to contact the department.
The department credited a coordinated response from its firefighters and mutual aid partners, including Washington Court House Police, Fayette County Sheriff’s dispatchers, Fayette County Box 65 scene support, Jefferson Township Fire & EMS and Concord Green Fire Department.
Officials also urged residents not to drive to the scene of large fires. The department said congestion from bystanders significantly slowed crews’ ability to safely reach the fire Friday night, and in one instance a vehicle stopped and blocked an apparatus’s path so its occupant could point out where the fire was burning. The department also reminded the public that the property is privately owned and that entering it to take photos is not authorized.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Washington Court House Fire/Rescue Department, Jefferson Township Fire & EMS and Concord Green Volunteer Fire Department.
