ESSIG - An Essig man was fortunate enough to escape his home without injury when a fire broke out in the early hours Wednesday morning.
The call came in to the Brown County Sheriff's Office dispatch about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday saying there was a fire at John Thomas Schoof's residence. Schoof's home is located at 24834 West Essig St., not too far from Carl's Corner restaurant.
"We just saw the smoke, we didn't see any fire," said a longtime neighbor, Dave Wass, "It was a sickly-smelling smoke."
Wass, who lives right across the street from Schoof, said he has known his neighbor for about 25 years.
Wass also said the home's sole source for warmth was to burn wood for heat and the home does not have running water.
"Most likely the cause - according to the landowner - is probably something to do with the wood heater in the living room," said Tom Romaine, the second assistant chief of the New Ulm Fire Department, "Fire Chief Paul Macho, the officer in charge, said it was a 60 percent loss on the main level and about 10 to 20 percent loss on the upper level (of the home)."
According to a press release from the Brown County Sheriff's Office the fire was believed to have started in the living room on the main floor of the residence.
The New Ulm Fire Department sent a rescue truck, a rural fire pumper and a NUFD tanker. The Sleepy Eye Fire Department sent also sent a tanker, according to Romaine. About 15 firefighters from both the New Ulm Fire Department and the Sleepy Eye Fire Departments responded to the scene. The firefighters returned to the fire station in New Ulm at about 2:10 a.m., said Romaine.
"We're heading into a cold spell the next seven to 10 days," Romaine said, "And we're advising people to be especially careful with their heating equipment. When people are burning wood for heat, make sure there isn't a build-up of creosote (a soot-like deposit in the chimney). We've been very fortunate not to have any chimney fires this year - that's probably due to people taking care if they burn wood for heat."
According to the neighbor, Wass, he said he thought Schoof was probably staying with a friend in New Ulm.
Schoof could not be reached for comments for this article.
