No injuries, but Hull home declared a total loss

By Brandi Makuski

Firefighters say a two-story Town of Hull home is a total loss following a Tuesday morning fire.

Metro Fire crews—consisting of Stevens Point, Plover, and Hull—along with Park Ridge, Rosholt, Dewey Stockton, and Amherst fire departments were all called to 5370 Clarice Cir., just off Old Highway 18, at 10:07 a.m.

No one was injured in the blaze, according to Hull Fire Chief Ken Sadogierski. When crews first arrived, the attached garage was fully engulfed, and from there the flames spread to the home.

Large snowbanks and dense, heavily-wooded lots were just a few of the concerns on firefighters’ minds, Sadogierski said. Several explosions occurred early on, and Sadogierski said crews heard ammunition stored in the home “going off” on arrival. The homeowner also had some propane tanks used for welding in the house, but it was not immediately clear if any of them had ruptured.

Another challenge was the lack of a nearby water hydrant. Crews from multiple departments hauled water to the scene, dumping thousands of gallons into a collapsable canvas water tank outside the home. Sadogierski said crews attacked the fire from all four sides with multiple hose teams, but at one point were forced to use a water cannon from a Stevens Point fire engine to attack flames shooting out of the roof.

Amherst firefighters were kept on standby, responding to the scene upon request to relieve crews who were exhausted.

By 12:45 p.m., he said firefighters were in mop-up mode. By then, the American Red Cross had arrived to provide homeowners some assistance.

“It was a stubborn fire, both stories were fully engulfed, so it was a lot of fire to put out,” Sadogierski said.

The cause is still under investigation.