Late Sunday night, Newport Fire was called to Park Place on the north side of Pioneer Park for a house fire around 11 p.m. The fire consumed the entire home quickly, but thankfully the two occupants were able to escape unharmed. The single-family home, owned by Timothy Steenlage of Newport, is reported to have had roughly 1500 finished square feet between the two stories. The other occupant, a friend of Steenlage, normally has his 14-year-old son at the house as well, but he was with his mom at the time of the fire.

At first glance, it is clear that the damage to the building is extensive. The roof on the front porch is caved in, it appears as if the second story floor also caved in, and exterior walls on all four sides severely damaged. There are burn marks on the adjacent garage. The contents of the house are a total loss and it would be very surprising if the house itself is not considered a total loss as well.

Newport Fire Chief Steve Wiley spent a few minutes Monday afternoon recounting the events of the fire. The call originally came in as a burglary alarm, so the first responder was a Newport Police officer. As the officer arrived on scene, the homeowner was in contact with the alarm company that it was not a burglary, but a fire. The call to the fire department came in from the officer and the alarm company at about the same time. Once the call went out to the volunteers, they were on scene, ready to go within ten minutes. “Everybody’s at their home, you know, probably in bed sleeping or, you know, working their way towards that,” Wiley explained.

Ten minutes from jumping out of bed, driving to the fire and being ready to fight is a quick response time, “It doesn’t seem quick when you are standing at the scene,” Wiley acknowledged.

Wiley was one of the first on scene, so he immediately began to document and assess the situation to avoid any potentially deadly surprises. The gas to the house was shut off upon arrival and a downed powerline was identified in the back yard. The powerline burnt off the house, which at first thought would seem like a good thing to help prevent sparks causing other issues in the structure, “not necessarily,” said Wiley.

“It creates way more hazards for us than benefits. Normally, the panel will burn out,” He said regarding stopping the flow of power inside.

“Gas is a little bit more dangerous to us,” he added. “We killed the meter right on our initial attack. We shut that off ourselves.”

When his first line of firefighters arrived, he set them to work on the garage. The back corner had started to burn from the heat of the house, but that fire had not breached the building. Line one focused on protecting the detached garage and assisted on controlling their side of the house until line two could get in place. Ultimately, four different fire departments worked on getting the fire under control. Newport, St. Paul Park, Cottage Grove and Woodbury. “Mutual aid departments are awesome to work with,” Wiley pointed out.

The fire was contained by about 1:00 a.m. which is where the crews went into chasing hotspots. Because the second floor had completely collapsed, there were voids where the fire was still burning that water could not directly hit. Fire fighters need to enter the property and start moving stuff around to hit those pockets to ensure the fire cannot start back up. This process went on until sometime around 2:30 a.m. “[The fire] was probably predominantly under control after two hours and then probably another hour and a half chasing hotspots,” Wiley explained.

The State Fire Marshall was already out on Monday to begin the investigation as to the cause of the fire. House Fire

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“There’s a difference in between determining where it started and what the definitive cause was. It could take a week, it could take a month, it could just go undetermined. Most fire causes go undetermined,” Wiley said.

What is known is, the fire started somewhere in the kitchen area, but the exact cause is still under investigation. We also know that there were no pets in the house, and no one was injured, so if there is a silver lining in all of this, it is that everyone made it though the event physically healthy; occupants, neighbors, and responders. The mental aspect is a different story, two adult males and one 14-year-old boy lost their home and all their belongings 11 days before Christmas, in the middle of a pandemic where everyone is already stressed. Chief Wiley understands the affects this has on people and is clearly sympathetic. “It makes it hard for the homeowner, especially at this time of year,” he said.

In true Minnesota fashion, friends and neighbors stepped up instantly to help those misplaced by the fire. A go-fund-me was set up around 9:00 a.m. Monday morning with an initial goal of $5,000. By 6:00 p.m. it was approaching $6,000 and the goal was increased to $7,500. If you would like to contribute, the short link to the page is https://gf.me/u/zcnm2c The Neighbors of Newport MN Group on Facebook has a thread going with the go-fund-me link and there is also discussion on the Newport Fire Departments page. If you are looking to donate items instead of cash, that would be a good place to start to make the needed contacts.

As tragic as this event is, please use it as a reminder to check your safety plans and devices in your house. Make sure your smoke detectors work, check fire extinguishers, make sure you are not overloading any circuits and hundreds of other things to help avoid a second tragedy this winter. Be safe and stay healthy this winter!

The view from the front is dramatically different from what it was 14 hours prior to this photo being taken. Photo by Bruce Karnick