Fireplace ashes left in plastic trash can cause $170,000 in damage to Wichita home
The Wichita Fire Department is urging people to remember fireplace safety tips after a local home caught fire Tuesday because someone tossed ashes into a plastic trash can next to it.
The house, at 350 S. Socora, and its contents had estimated damage of $170,000, fire Capt. Jose Ocadiz said during a Wednesday morning news briefing. About $120,000 of the damage was to the house itself. The balance is damage to the home’s contents.
Ocadiz said fire crews who responded to the house fire shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday saw heavy smoke billowing from the roof. Flames spread throughout the attic and caused part of the roof to collapse.
Fire crews eventually extinguished the blaze and determined it started accidentally “due to improper disposal of discarded fireplace ash being dumped in a plastic trash can next to the house,” Ocadiz said.
“The Wichita Fire Department would like to remind you to make sure that the ashes are cool before placing them in a metal container, preferably with water, ... a safe distance away from the house,” he said.
No one was hurt in the fire. The home is near Maple and Tyler.
