Legion of firefighters battle Town of Grafton house fire

Flames tore through a sprawling house on High Bluff Drive near Lion's Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton Wednesday evening. Photo by Bill Schanen IV
A legion of firefighters from throughout Ozaukee County as well as the surrounding areas fought a four-alarm blaze that gutted a large house in the Town of Grafton Wednesday evening.
Firefighters were called to the sprawling home on High Bluff Drive next to Lion’s Den George Nature Preserve at 4:49 p.m., and by the time they arrived the house was ablaze, Grafton Fire Chief William Rice said.
People who were in the house at the time escaped, although the fate of several cats was unknown Wednesday night.
“We don’t know if they (the cats) make it, but all the humans are out and safe and no body is hurt,” Rice said at the scene of the fire.
It is believed, Rice said, that the blaze started when items near a bedroom fireplace caught on fire and someone attempted to throw them out of a window.
“They (the items) didn’t get all the way out (of the window),” he said. “Strong winds took the burning products and really lit them up against the side of the house. They got under the eaves even before we got here and created a fairly substantial fire.”
Complicating the firefighting effort was the fact there are no fire hydrants in rural areas. A fleet of tanker trucks, or tenders, from multiple departments hauled water from a hydrant on the south side of Port Washington to the scene of the blaze, racing back and forth on Highway C.
“It was a very challenging fire,” Rice said.
The fire, which gutted a section of the house, was extinguished within hours of starting.
“I would say over 50% of the house has been completely destroyed, and the rest is heavily damaged,” Rice said.
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