Rural Milton family displaced after fire guts garage
TOWN OF HARMONY—Fire officials say a family is temporarily displaced after a fire destroyed a garage in rural Milton.
According to a Milton Fire Department report, the blaze broke out about 1 p.m. at an attached garage at a residence at 5907 N.W. Rotamer Road just south of Milton.
Milton Fire Chief Loren Lippincott said the cause of the fire was not clear, but firefighters believed it started in part of the garage near an ATV that had a battery charger attached to it.
Lippincott said that when he arrived, the garage was completely in flames. He said heat from the fire initially was causing live rounds of ammunition to go off inside the garage, but the problem was short lived and posed only a minor threat to firefighters.
Lippincott said the blaze burned up a vehicle, a tractor and other items in the garage, doing about $90,000 in damage to the structure and the property inside.
The garage was destroyed, but Lippincott said firefighters from four departments were able to knock down fire before it spread beyond a firewall between the garage and the kitchen. Lippincott said nobody was hurt, but the owners, Jeff and Wendy Schultz, a couple with children, are displaced.
He said that family’s insurance company was assisting them with temporary living arrangements.
