Published: May 17, 2009 08:25 am      

Fire causes $200,000 in damage

John and Ingrid Meinders felt disheartened.

The couple on Friday lost about $200,000 in a newly finished pool house to a fire caused by a lightening bolt.

“Pretty much everything is replaceable,” John said. “Instead of having a nice place for summer, we’ll be under construction. At least nobody was hurt.”

The two-story structure, located at 1006 Frontier Drive behind the Meinders’ main home, housed a dancing studio, a mother-in-law room and bath and a game room. Everything was destroyed after the roof, which was struck by lightening, caught fire.

It smoldered about three hours before it started burning, Ingrid said.

She learned the structure was on fire after a neighbor text messaged her.

The message said, “Your house is on fire!!!”

Ingrid said she ran outside and saw the flames. She and John then called the fire department.

According to Fire Marshal Todd Finley, the structure housed 1,900 square feet.

The call to the fire department came in at 8:51 p.m., Finley said.

“During the fire, the shift commander made a decision to pull everybody out of the (main) house,” he said. “We used handlines to get the (flames) under control.”

Handlines are hoses with nozzles held by two firefighters.

“It took about three hours to get the fire completely under control,” he said, noting, “We had 30 to 40 firefighters on the ground.”

All of the county fire departments, plus Fargo, were there with about 18 trucks.

Though there were many trucks available, “we actually only used three,” he said.

Finley said two firefighters suffered dehydration and were treated and released from Woodward Regional Hospital.

He praised the Woodward EMS, which set up a rehab station for firefighters who needed a break from exhaustion.

“Once the EMS checked them out, they would give them back to us, and they were a great help,” he said, adding, “The neighbors helped, too.”

“We even had the mayor working with us,” he said.

Finley said the roof of the structure was what mostly burned, but noted the structure was a total loss.

“Quite a bit of the house is left standing,” he said. “The roof is what’s gone.”

He praised the fire department for their work.

“The citizens of Woodward County ought to feel really blessed to have the firefighters they have,” he said. “They really came together as one team, and it really helped us out.”

Ingrid said, “We’re very appreciative of all the firefighters who came and the whole community. We had tons of offers for help. We’re just grateful the lightening bolt didn’t hit our home. That’s where all of our treasures are.”