Omaha Fire Department releases report on the Joel N. Cornish House fire located in South Omaha

OFD were dispatched to a fire alarm of a multi-story, multi-family residential structure.

Fire crews reported nothing showing on approach, but upon further investigation located a fire on the basement level near an entrance on the "B" side of the structure. "Working Fire," declared.

Dispatch had indicated that the 911 caller stated they had attempted to defrost the pipes that had frozen the prior evening using a propane fueled torch. The propane fueled torch was left un-attended, located too close to combustible items and the torch then ignited the combustible items.

Individuals attempted to extinguish the fire, but the fire had communicated in the ceiling and void spaces. 

Utilities were on scene and multiple occupants were displaced due to the fire.

No injuries were reported at the time. 

Multiple fire units were rotated onto the scene due to inclement weather.

Image by: Cornstalker, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons