Published: June 04, 2008 08:40 am      

Roofers’ torch causes flames to flare

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

Roofers accidentally started a house fire late Tuesday morning while replacing a roof in southeast Mineral Wells, fire officials reported.

Mineral Wells dispatchers received an initial call at 10:25 a.m. regarding smoke and visible flames at a residence in the 1200 block of S.E. 20th Street. The home is a one-story frame structure with vinyl siding.

When firefighters from the Mineral Wells Fire Department and Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the scene, white smoke was visible exiting from the east and west attic vents.

The owner, Clyde R. Guess, told the Index it was his deceased mother's house. She had moved into the home when it was new in 1949, he said.

“I was cleaning it up and remodeling it for my daughter to move in,” Guess said. Part of the preparation, he said, was getting the hail-damaged roof replaced.

When the fire ignited, Guess said no one was inside, “just on the roof.”

The cause of the fire, officials confirmed, was from the roof construction.

MWVFD Chief Steve Perdue explained the roofers were melting tar with a blowtorch on a portion of flat roof in the northwest portion of the home and generated a lot of heat. Melting tar with a torch is a fairly common practice with flat roofs, officials said.

“The fire was mainly contained to the attic,” Perdue said. He noted that one room in the northwest part of the house was also damaged when the sheet rock fell in. Some of the building's vinyl siding was also damaged, officials said.

Between the fire damage and subsequent water damage, fire officials estimated the financial loss at $10,000; an additional $5,000 was estimated for the house's contents.

According to Guess, the house is insured.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 12:15 p.m. with no injuries reported.