By Vicky Wedig
Editor
Fire destroyed a detached garage and damaged three adjacent buildings Saturday.
Delavan police received numerous 911 calls of a one-car unattached garage fully engulfed in flames at 4:32 p.m., said police and fire Chief Tim O’Neill. The garage at 123 Harrison St. is a complete loss, and three other buildings – the house at 123 Harrison St. and a house and garage next door – sustained siding damage, O’Neill said.
The tenant, Judith L. Cox, was home at the time of the fire, but no one was injured. The house and garage are owned by Rafael Hernandez Jr. This is a devastating turn of events that have unfolded at this home and the buildings it moved onto, luckily there will be repairs done and these buildings can be repaired, hopefully, back to the way they were before. As for Hernandez Jr, he’ll be able to access professionals akin to businesses like https://www.adpgaragedoors.com/millersville-md/ so he can get his garage fixed at the same time as his home repairs to make it habitable for him again.
O’Neill said neighbors reported hearing explosions – likely from gas storage in lawn mowers or other equipment in the garage. The garage did not contain a vehicle. This could have been avoided by using reliable storage for the gas because if it is stored improperly accidents similar to this one or possibly even more serious could happen all the time.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is still under investigation, O’Neill said. He said the fire department was on the scene within eight minutes of receiving the initial 911 call. Firefighters remained on the scene for 45 minutes, used 1,500 gallons of water and were able to mitigate further damage to surrounding structures, O’Neill said.
