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Crime & Safety

Apple Valley House Fire Ruled Accidental

The Saturday evening blaze destroyed a split-level home in the Carrollton Estates neighborhood. No one was injured.

The cause of that destroyed an Apple Valley home has been ruled accidental.

Charcoal briquettes inadequately disposed of in a plastic garage can just outside the eastern side of the house sparked the three-alarm fire at 14617 Hanover Ln., said Tuesday evening.

The split-level home, owned and occupied by James H. Bennett and Erica D. Bennett of Apple Valley, was ruled a total loss, Thompson said. The structure and contents were valued at $225,000.

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No one was reported injured.

Since the time of the fire, the Bennetts have been staying with relatives, Thompson said.

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“We offered assistance from the Salvation Army and the Red Cross to them, but they declined,” he said. “We were told they were receiving help from relatives and friends in the area.”

In addition to destroying the Bennett home, the fire melted vinyl siding on a neighboring house.

“It’s not usual for siding of that type of material to be damaged in a fire like this,” said Thompson. “It’s about one out of five fire we see this happen.”

The volume of fire and wind direction—not heat—are the causes of damage to neighboring structures, he said.

Apple Valley firefighters responded to the fire at 4:44 p.m. Saturday and were on the scene for about four hours. Providing mutual aid were the Lakeville Fire Department, which sent an engine to the fire scene, and the Eagan Fire Department, which covered emergency calls while Apple Valley was out.

The Bennett home is in the neighborhood, less than a mile north of Apple Valley Fire Station 1, 15000 Hayes Rd.

All was quiet in the neighborhood Tuesday evening, as a large steel garbage receptacle containing burnt insulation and other building materials sat outside the garage of the gutted house. The main picture window was covered by plywood, and much of the house's roof was draped with a blue vinyl tarp.

Pointing to Saturday’s fire as an example, Thompson said disposing burnt charcoal improperly can have disastrous consequences.

“Charcoal briquettes can remain hot for up to 72 hours after use,” he said. “Even though the outside of the briquette looks gray and burnt, the inside of the briquette and the ashes remain hot.”

Thompson recommends dousing the used briquettes with water and disposing the ashes in a metal can or another non-combustible container at least three feet from a structure until cool.

For more information about disposing charcoal briquettes, click here.

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