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Brighton fire ends in home’s demolition
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
BRIGHTON — First responders arrived on the scene of Brighton’s biggest structure fire in recent memory Monday morning, as a pillar of smoke rose from a house about a block from downtown.
Brighton Fire Chief Bill Farmer said Washington, Wayland and Richland fire departments were paged out alongside his own shortly after 8:30 a.m. Jan. 27, later aided by tankers from Fairfield, Lockridge Ainsworth, Packwood and Crawfordsville.
After a few hours, the structure was intentionally destroyed by firefighters, who said they had no other way to put out the blaze.
“Brighton's water system couldn't keep up with the amount of water that was flowing so tankers were called in from Ainsworth Fire, Crawfordsville Fire, Lockridge Fire, Fairfield Fire, (and) Packwood Fire,” said a recounting of the incident on the Brighton department’s Facebook page. “Fire officers on scene determined the only safe way to extinguish the fire was to bring in an excavator to tear (the) house down.”
The incident destroyed the home of Brighton resident David Day. He and his Fiancée Mariah Maldonado could be found sorting through the rubble Tuesday afternoon.
Day said a home security system alerted him about carbon dioxide levels inside, and a quick look at the camera feed appeared to show smoke inside. He said he rushed home from his job in Washington to get his dog out — and succeeded — but didn’t think to call 911 until after he arrived on the scene.
“I just jump in my car at work, and I even went 100 miles an hour getting back here,” he said. “I flew, I was worried about my dog at that point. I thought I could get the fire out or something, but I couldn’t make it.”
The two said they bought the house in an auction last fall, and started moving in sometime in November. Day said he had plans to fix up the old property, but didn’t have insurance on it yet, and he’s not sure what he’ll do with the lot anymore. Fundraising and cleanup coordination efforts are still in the works, and Maldonado and Day both have other places to stay.
At the moment, the two are focused on salvaging whatever they can from the rubble, including a pair of engagement rings that were left on the kitchen counter.
“I had a lot of dreams about it. It needed a lot of work, but my plan was to fix it up … this house was going to be nice, I just never got around to it,” Day said. “I’ve been trying to dig, but didn’t find the rings. That’s the only thing that’s sentimental to me that I expect to find.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
