House in Pelican destroyed by fire

Firefighters from five departments were dispatched to a house fire on River Bend Road in Pelican Sunday. 

Pelican fire chief Dave Hollands said the home, owned by Tianna Roddy, was destroyed.

The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated and according to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, in addition to the Pelican fire department and Pelican first responders, firefighters and equipment from the Rhinelander,  Crescent, Pine Lake and Monico fire departments also responded to the scene.

Hollands said Wednesday a cause for the fire hadn’t been determined but he said what is known is the fire started in the front of the house. 

“We’re not exactly sure what started it,” he said. “We’re going to go back and do a little more looking yet.”

Hollands said there are two bedrooms in the back of the house that sustained smoke and water damage “they can salvage stuff out of.”

“Basically, the whole front of the house is completely destroyed,” he said. “The roof trusses are pretty much burned through. The roof’s not totally burned off but its probably not safe.”

Hollands said the fire extended into the home’s finished basement. 

“There’s an open stairwell so debris from the fire, we think, ended up falling down the basement stairs and started the basement on fire so there was fire on both floors,” he said. “The house is not liveable at all. It’ll probably have to be torn down and completely rebuilt.”

Hollands said he’d guess the home’s occupants lost 90 percent of their possessions as a result of the fire. 

While no person was injured, the family lost one of its pets, a cat, that was in one of the back bedrooms. 

The family managed to get their dog out of the house. 

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].