Family rescued from burning home; electrical outlet blamed for blaze

Residents were helped out of their burning home by Bucyrus Police Department officers on Thursday evening, the city's fire chief said.

Police officers were the first to arrive at the house fire at 116 S. Spring St., fire Chief Chad Schwemley said Friday. His department was dispatched at 8:09 p.m. Thursday.

"The call was transferred to our dispatch from BPD that the house was full of smoke," he said.

By the time the fire department arrived at the scene, everyone was outside, Schwemley said. Police officers had helped some members of the family out through a window. One person was taken to Avita Health System-Bucyrus Hospital for smoke inhalation and released after treatment.

Family heard a 'pop' while watching TV

A GoFundMe page created for Jason and Santana Stamper states the family lost everything in the fire.

"The family was simply watching a movie when they heard a 'pop' and then the house became ingulfed in flames and black smoke," according to the GoFundMe page.

Santana Stamper has been program manager for Operation HOPE, a police-assisted addiction recovery initiative that helps people struggling with addiction and drug abuse; and also organized the Hope For Christmas Toy Drive.

The Stampers' son, Bentley, is autistic and suffers from seizures.

The department's engine, medic truck and Ladder 5 initially responded to the scene. Smoke was coming from the eaves when they arrived, Schwemley said.

"They encountered heavy smoke once they entered the door," he said. "They were able get it knocked down."

Holmes Township Fire Department, which was called to assist at the scene, transported the person to the hospital, as the Bucyrus Fire Department had several emergency calls at the same time.

Firefighters determined the electrical fire was caused by an outlet in the dining room, he said. Fire damage was limited to that room, but the entire house had heavy smoke damage. A dollar figure on the damage had not be set, he said.

"They did several searches for hot spots and different things like that," Schwemley said. Firefighters left the scene around 10:10 p.m.

The Red Cross came to the scene to help the family, he said.

The GoFundMe page is at www.gofundme.com/f/38enfz-family-lost-everything-in-a-house-fire?qid=7ae5867e59aefaa3288e6885e8ef05b0.