West Toledo home sustains fire damage

9/22/2006

An overheated electrical circuit started a fire yesterday that caused about $20,000 to a West Toledo home, authorities said.

A space heater plugged into an electrical outlet in a utility room off the back of a home at 5043 Winona Drive overheated the electrical wiring and started the fire just before 6 p.m., igniting the wood framing in the rear of the home, Battalion Fire Chief Frank Keating said.

The homeowner, Shirley A. Jarvis, smelled smoke earlier but didn't find a problem, Chief Keating said. When Ms. Jarvis later noticed heavy smoke, she called authorities and escaped unhurt.

Ms. Jarvis had bought the space heater earlier in the day, and it had been running about eight or nine hours before it overloaded the circuit, Chief Keating said. The fire was mostly contained to the attic of the one-story, two-bedroom home but the rest of the structure had smoke and water damage.