CHAUNCEY, Ohio — One person was hospitalized and a homeowner displaced following a fire that destroyed a Chauncey home on Monday. A fundraiser has been started to help the homeowner.
The Chauncey-Dover Volunteer Fire Department led the response to the fire.
Fire Chief Roger Taylor said, “The resident was already out of the structure when we got there and sitting on the porch across the street, and Athens County EMS had transported one person prior to us getting there from the scene to O’Bleness Hospital.”
Chauncey Mayor Amy Renner said at the April 10 village council meeting that the injured individual, a relative of the homeowner whose name has not been publicly released, was being treated at The Ohio State University burn center in Columbus.
Taylor said Friday morning that the injured individual had been released from the hospital and was back at home. The American Red Cross has provided support, Taylor said.
A GoFundMe to support the homeowner, organized by Shawnee resident William Jacobs, says the displaced woman, Sherry Lee, is elderly, on oxygen, “and needs her meds.”
“I know that times are hard but anything will help the family,” the fundraiser page says.
A Facebook post from the Village of Chauncey promoting the fundraiser says, “She needs her community’s help because she is very sick with cancer and she doesn’t have home insurance so she has lost everything.”
At the April 10 council meeting, Renner praised the volunteer fire department’s response to the blaze.
“The fire department did such a good job responding to that fire. They were the first on scene and it was as fast as you can expect, honestly,” Renner said.
Taylor said it took “11 minutes from the time a call came to time we were on scene hoses on the ground.”
The Athens Fire Department provided mutual aid along with volunteer fire departments from The Plains, Jacksonville and York Township, Taylor said. Athens County Emergency Medical Services provided support too.
Taylor said the case of the fire remains unknown, following an investigation with the state fire marshal’s office.
“When we arrived, it was a fully involved structure. It was coming out of all sides,” Taylor said, adding that the fire damaged a nearby house and small building nearby.
It took responders 20 to 30 minutes to extinguish the fire, Taylor estimated.
