Peabody house burns to ground
Staff writer
An early-morning blaze Saturday at a Peabody rental house was fought for more than three hours by firefighters from Peabody, Burns, and Walton.
The house, in the 200 block of S. Olive St., was fully engaged by the time firefighters arrived.
A large number of propane bottles, some of which exploded, were inside the house.
The 1,154-square-foot, 1½ story house, owned by rural Peabody resident Mitchell Moffett, had a detached storage shed and tool shed. The garage and storage shed didn’t burn, but firefighters used a dedicated fire hose to keep the garage and storage shed wet.
The house, valued at $21,200, was razed Saturday so still-smoldering portions could be extinguished.
When winds came up Saturday, the smoldering remains created a risk of rekindling, fire chief Colton Glenn said. He called Peabody’s public works director, who brought equipment to push what remained of the house into its basement, which then was filled with water.
The house was packed from floor to ceiling, Glenn said. Among the many things inside were “an excessive amount” of propane tanks. Some exploded in the fire. The rest, near the back porch, were removed by firefighters.
Officer Eric Watts told Glenn he earlier had arrested Chance Johnson, who apparently was living in the house, for hooking extension cords to a generator across the street.
“There was no electricity or gas hooked up at the house,” Glenn said.
When firefighters arrived, Johnson was across the street.
“He slept that night in a camper across the street,” Glenn said.
Deputy emergency management director Dan Schaefer responded to the fire, and Hillsboro ambulance stood by.