Fire claims garage at Michael Rothacker's residence Sunday night

By Shiloh Appel

On Sunday, November 11th, at 5p.m., the fire siren went off in Redfield and Redfield area firefighters rushed to the scene of a metal exterior garage fire at Michael (Mike) Rothacker's residence near the traffic bridge over Turtle Creek.
According to firefighter Rich Gruenwald, what appeared to be an old Ford pickup was destroyed in the fire along with all other property that was stored in the garage (except for a toolbox). However, nobody was harmed in the fire.
"Mike was in the house watching football and his son was going to go to the store to get something to eat and he noticed the fire and got his toolbox out," said Gruenwald.
With billows of black smoke and flames climbing up to the power lines hanging above the garage, sparks began to fly. The power lines were melted and several houses lost electricity.
"That main power wire went down the alley," said Gruenwald. "We called the power company and they came down and got things hooked back up to the houses and stuff — they are pretty good about that."
The fire took approximately four hours to extinguish. At 9p.m., firefighters were wrapping it up. According to Gruenwald, the cause of the fire is still under investigation and monetary loss and damages are still undetermined.