Fire crews battle blaze in College Hill

A home in the College Hill neighborhood appeared to be a total loss after crews responded to a fire there late Wednesday morning.

Tammy Snow, deputy fire chief with the Wichita Fire Department, said a 911 caller reported just after 10 a.m. that a home in the 200 block of North Dellrose, which is near Douglas and Oliver, was on fire.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire, Snow said, though a dog was rescued and taken to a veterinarian for care. Smoke continued to billow from the home shortly after noon and a sizable portion of its roof was completely gone.

Snow said that firefighters had to retreat at one point and fight the fire exclusively from the outside of the home when the roof began to collapse.

“The first arriving crews saw fire coming from the gable on the east side of the home,” Snow said. “We found that the fire was throughout the entire attic area. It had a very good start on us.”

The blaze created heavy smoke that reduced visibility on Oliver for a time, the fire department said.

Snow said no damage estimate was available as of Wednesday afternoon, but she added that the home had received extensive damage. She added that the dog that was rescued appeared to be doing well before it was treated.

A second fire in east Wichita on Wednesday sent one person to the hospital. That fire was at a residence on South San Pablo Lane, which is just off Lincoln.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Fire crews battle blaze in College Hill."