A man cooking hot dogs on a stove fell asleep early Tuesday evening but woke up when first responders began arriving because of a report of a possible structure fire.
A sheriff’s deputy found smoke coming from the home and discovered the burned food on the stove. He carried the pan outside, according to Winfield Fire Capt. Darryl Littrell.
In a separate incident, nine fire units and 22 fire personnel turned out Wednesday morning when smoke was reported in USD 465’s administrative offices on Wheat Road.
"We did access the meeting room on the second floor of the south building. We smelled wood burning in the room," Littrell said. "As it turned out, some staff were working on some cabinets in the room yesterday evening and the (dull) saw blade burned the edges of the wood."
The heating and air conditioning was not running all night and the smell and the smoke hung in the air all night. The staff came in in the morning and saw the smoke.
"There was no fire. Just a smoke scare," Littrell said.
The county fire departments mutual aid agreement kicked in before the investigation was complete. An Arkansas City fire unit was dispatched to the possible structure fire while Burden and Udall trucks went to the Winfield station to stand-by. That’s normal procedure now for structural fires, according to Littrell.
"It’s reassuring knowing we’ve got help like Ark City coming with personnel," Littrell said. "We know they’re already in route and we don’t have to request help. It’s a good system."
