A single story home is considered a total loss after a fire Wednesday afternoon in the Town of Union. Shortly after noon, the Brussels Union Gardner fire department was paged out to a home on Ledge Road for a fire in the garage attached to the house. Fire chief Kurt Vandertie says units of his department were joined by firefighters from the Southern Door fire department providing mutual aid. The first units on the scene encountered heavy, black smoke & flames emanating from the structure which was fully engulfed in flames. Vandertie said fire crews attacked the blaze aggressively from the front & rear doors of the home. He says the fire was contained to one side of the house, but there was so much smoke & water damage that the home is considered a total loss. The homeowner, who is also a Brussels Union Gardner fireman, arrived home shortly before the fire broke out & noticed a burning smell. He did not find anything when he went outside to check the area, but realized something was wrong when he got to the door between the home & the garage. When he looked through the window he saw black smoke in the garage. By the time the 911 call came through, the windows on the structure were blowing out. Chief Vandertie says more than two dozen firefighters responded to the call, two fill sites were set up for a water shuttle & personnel from the Sturgeon Bay fire department were asked to standby & the Casco fire department provided coverage at the fire station while crews fought the blaze. The Red Cross also responded. Chief Vandertie says every effort was made to save items in the home, but there was significant damage to items in the garage & parts of the home. Firefighters cleared the scene at about 2:10PM. No cause or damage estimate is available at this time.
