Grease causes off-campus oven fire

Excessive grease on the bottom of a self-cleaning oven was the cause of a small fire at an off-campus house Monday evening.

Keith Thompson, the acting chief of the Vermillion Fire Department, said the VFD and Clay County Emergency Services were called to the house at 225 North University Street at about 8:15 p.m. for a grease fire. The property, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior, is located across the street from Slagle Hall and Aalfs Auditorium.

“Basically we just went in and we moved the oven outside and then ventilated the building. There was no real damage so that was a good thing,” Thompson said.

Sam Stoltenberg, a USD student who was at the house at the time of the fire, said he had set the oven to its self-cleaning function when he noticed flames and smoke inside of it.

“The flames started — it was all inside the oven and then it eventually died down but at the time I didn’t know if it would continue,” he said.

Stoltenberg ran to a neighbor’s house to try to find a fire extinguisher while the four other USD students who were at the house evacuated to the street.

“They just told us all to get out of the house as a safety precaution and they were quick to report to our house,” he said. “I just didn’t really know if the fire in the oven would keep going or what it would do.”

Within about 40 minutes of the call being placed firefighters had left the scene and the students were back in the house.

VIDEO

Firefighters just brought back a large fan used for clearing smoke. No sign of smoke or fire. pic.twitter.com/ytjN3w1rNp

— Malachi Petersen (@Malachi_93) August 29, 2016