Damaged fireplace sparked Sagle blaze

SAGLE — A compromised fireplace has been determined to be the cause of a blaze that demolished a four-bedroom home earlier this month.

Sagle Fire District Chief Rob Goodyear said damaged insulating bricks within the firebox caused wood structural members behind the fireplace to catch fire.

The blaze began downstairs near a back corner of the home and spread upstairs through a stairwell, said Goodyear.

The mid-afternoon fire occurred on Jan. 6 at 595 Copper Ridge Road, a few miles northwest of Round Lake State Park. There were no injuries.

The husband and wife who owned the home were at work in Coeur d’Alene when the fire took hold. The couple’s two young children were away from the home at the time of fire, Goodyear said.

The couple apparently used the fireplace on the night before the fire and let the embers die down overnight. Neighbors reported the fire the following day.

Fire had overrun the structure when firefighters arrived, which prevented an internal attack in the home. However, they were able to stop the fire from spreading to an attached garage.

The home and the entirety of its contents were destroyed, although the homeowners were able to salvage an imported dining room set at the front of the house and recover their fireproof safe, according to Goodyear.

Goodyear said the cause was of the blaze was thoroughly scrutinized by his agency, Idaho State Deputy Fire Marshal Mark Aamodt and the homeowners’ insurance investigator.

“There was a full investigation,” said Goodyear, adding that the there was universal agreement regarding the fire’s cause.

At the time of the fire, the contemporary home built in 2007 was for sale with a listed price of $599,000. The couple told Goodyear the home was up for sale because they had tired of the commute to Coeur d’Alene.

In 2005, there were 24,500 residential fires in the U.S. originating in chimneys, fireplaces and solid fuel appliances, according to the most recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data available.

Those fires resulted in 20 deaths and $126 million in property damage, the commission noted.

The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends annual inspections to reduce the danger of chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.