GENEVA — Jeff and Tiffani Foss were playing with their 5-year-old daughter, Angelena, Monday afternoon when they heard an urgent knock at the front door.
“My neighbor said, ‘Your house is on fire! There is smoke out here,’” Jeff Foss said. “We had no idea. There was no smell inside and the smoke detectors never rang.”
Smoke poured from the gable of the house at 729 Eastlawn St., even as Foss emptied two fire extinguishers into the wall of the upstairs bedroom.
“My neighbor brought a third fire extinguisher and we used it. The firefighters got here just as it ran out,” Jeff Foss said. “We ran for the door and all we thought about was the (pets).”
The Fosses son, John, will turn 2 this week. He was not home at the time of the fire.
“I ran to my son’s bedroom and all I could see was a hole where the outlet should have been. I guess we didn’t smell the smoke because it was all blowing out the gable,” he said.
The Fosses grabbed Angelena and their pets and stood in the driveway as firefighters broke windows and carefully climbed the ladder truck extension to ventilate the roof. Smoke poured from the attic vent and seeped out of the window frames as flames shot from the roof point.
“I just can’t believe this. Everything is ruined,” Tiffani Foss said. “This is unbelievable.”
No one was injured in the fire and the Geneva Fire Department received mutual aid from Saybrook and Harpersfield township fire departments with medical assistance by Northwest Ambulance District.
Firefighter Dale Arkenburg said the fire originated in the chimney where the Fosses had a fire going.
“This fire spread fast. We arrived to a working fire from a bedroom wall to the attic and all the spaces in between,” Arkenburg said. “We had to break through walls and the ceiling and the roof to get to the flames. Fire and smoke damage was extensive in three rooms and there was water damage throughout.”
Arkenburg said the house is a total loss and estimates damages at $100,000.
“There were a lot of salvageable belongings,” Arkenburg said. “But in interior of the house is a mess.”
During the fire, neighbors surrounded Jeff and Tiffani Foss, bringing a blanket for Tiffani and embracing her in strong hugs as she stood in the snow.
“We don’t know what happens next, but we have homeowner’s insurance and we have family for support,” Jeff Foss said. “This isn’t what you expect out of a quiet day at home. This isn’t what you expect out of any day.”
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Family inside didn’t know home was on fire
Family playing with daughter when neighbor knocked on door
- Local News
-
-
Presses stopped: Updated with video
It was June 23, 1969.
-
Murder suspect kills self at mother’s grave
Madison Township police officers found the body of a murder suspect in the Alexander Harper Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, ending a day-long, multi-county manhunt.
-
Commissioners pay to get the business
Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $15,000 contract with Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County to provide business service representation on behalf of the county’s One-Stop job training center.
-
Airport takes off with a new name
A new name for the Ashtabula County Airport is winding its way through the regulatory channels.
-
Property owners must pay for meth labs in Jefferson
An ordinance requiring landowners to pay for the clean-up costs of clandestine drug labs was unanimously adopted by Village Council.
-
Elections board gets help with time-consuming tasks
A Xenia company specializing in election services will take on some time-consuming tasks that should help contain the Ashtabula County Board of Elections’ labor costs, members said.
-
Grand Valley sixth grader wins Ashtabula County Spelling Bee
James Elliott, a sixth grader at Grand Valley Middle School, clinched his win of the 29th annual Ashtabula County Area V Spelling Bee by successfully spelling the words “physique” and “daffodil.”
-
Sports, academics to come together
SPIRE Institute will expand its educational base and accept international students into its sports performance programs through a partnership with the Andrews Osborne Academy, Ted Meekma, SPIRE management team member, announced Wednesday.
-
Conneaut Chamber lauds top citizen, ‘Champions’
Nicholas Iarocci, Conneaut’s 2011 Citizen of the Year, needed plenty of gulps of water to complete his acceptance speech Tuesday night.
-
Felony charge filed in robbery
An Ashtabula woman who police said grabbed a woman’s purse inside a Conneaut supermarket late Monday afternoon faces a felony charge in Conneaut Municipal Court, according to reports.
- More Local News Headlines
-
