The fire happened at 5:03 Thursday evening on the 1400 block of West Lincoln Avenue, where up to 34 firefighters were on scene battling the flames. Shift Commander Mitch Cole said that the blaze started out in a home as a cooking fire which ignited the house. The flames then spread to the adjacent house consuming it and damaging two other homes.
Cole said that firefighters had difficulties getting into the house because the door was blocked by several items. Winds also made the fire harder to put out. One of the victims whose home was destroyed by the blaze, Cassy Frayle, said that her neighbors hoarding was to blame for the fire along with the city for not doing anything about it.
"I have a little brown Chihuahua dog I cannot find and we are homeless now because our neighbors are hoarders and the city refused to do anything about it," said Frayle. "Are they going to help us now? Is there any help for us now? I do not think so."
Frayle has lived at the residence for a year and said that her neighbors hoarding has been an ongoing issue since she has moved in. She said that she has brought this to the attention of the city, but they did nothing to remedy the issue.
Frayle's 4-year-old chihuahua was home when the fire happened and she does not know what happened to her beloved pet. Firefighters were able to pull out one of her family's other pets from the fire, a pet snake. Cole said that only one person was injured in the fire, the owner of the home where the fire originated. She suffered minor burns to her fingers.