NOTICE OF INVESTIGATION
Date: 6/1/2019
Time: 3:37 p.m.
Location / Address: 113 Jethro Street, North East, Cecil County
Type of Incident: Dwelling Fire
Description of Structure / Property: Two-story, duplex
Owner / Occupants: Michael & Susan Benjamin (Owners) Barry and Terry Weeks (Occupants)
Injuries or Deaths: None reported
Estimated $ Loss: Structure: $15,000.00 Contents: $5,000.00
Smoke Alarm Status: Present & activated
Fire Alarm / Sprinkler Status: Not present
Arrests(s): N/A
Primary Responding Fire Department: North East Volunteer Fire Company
# of Alarms: 1 # Of Firefighters: 35
Time to Control: 20 minutes
Discovered By: Occupants
Area of Origin: Kitchen/living room
Preliminary Cause: Accidental - due to cooking
Additional Information: The occupants were attempting to deep fry a chicken. Upon placing the whole chicken into the pot, grease ignited. The occupant (Mr. Weeks) removed the flaming pot from the stove and during his attempt, traveled through the living room where he tripped, igniting combustibles within the room. The fire was contained to the living room with extensive smoke, soot and water damage throughout the first floor. Citizens are urged to deep-fry poultry outdoors in cookware designed specifically for the purpose of deep-frying and are reminded to use the manufacturers recommendations including completely defrosting and drying the chicken/turkey and do not overfill the fryer.
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