Quick action saves home from chimney fire

Grant Township and Shelby-Benona firefighters extinguish a chimney fire in Claybanks Township Tuesday morning, Jan. 27.

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

CLAYBANKS TWP. — Sharon Rabe was just about to leave her home at 6263 S. 36th Ave. and head to bible study Tuesday, Jan. 27, at around 8 a.m. when her son John alerted her that flames were shooting out of their chimney.

Sharon immediately called 911, and fire crews from Grant Township and Shelby-Benona fire departments quickly arrived at the scene. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to just the chimney, and the two-story home was saved. Sharon said John was in the orchard behind their house when he saw the fire. “The house could have been gone,” she said. “Thank God he saw it when he did.”

“There is no structural damage,” said her husband David Rabe. “I am very thankful for that.”

The home, which is insured, is heated by a wood-burning furnace, David said. It was a frigid morning with temperatures in the low teens.

The family has lived in the house for 32 years, David said. A similar fire broke out in the chimney about 20 years ago, he said. The couple anticipated that they would be able to re-occupy the house today.