Contaminated Kerosene not ruled out as root cause of structure fire on Shortline Pike

The cause of an early-morning fire on Friday remains under investigation and contaminated Kerosene purchased at a gas station could have been the culprit.

Berea Fire Chief Shawn Sandlin confirmed Saturday that at approximately 6:15 a.m. Friday morning, crews were called to the scene of a structure fire at 232 Shortline Pike. The home, owned by Adam Holt, was fully engulfed when fire crews arrived. Lloyd Bowles, Holt’s father-in-law, suffered injuries as a result of the fire.

Berea Fire Department officials determined the fire was possibly caused by contaminated Kerosene allegedly purchased the day prior at a nearby gas 76 gas station on 1016.

The homeowners, Sandlin said, purchased the Kerosene at the 76 gas station. The pump was eventually shutdown after preliminary testing. Sandlin said samples will be sent out of state for further testing in an effort to determine why the Kerosene heater caught fire.

“It’s still under investigation,” Sandlin said. “We looked over the scene and decided that the Kerosene heater did initially start the fire, and we’re looking at why the Kerosene heater was the cause (of the fire) and we’re going from there. We’re taking some samples and sending them off to be tested and try to determine why the Kerosene heater (caught fire).”

Sandlin advised homeowners to follow manufactures guidelines when it comes to using alternative heating sources and use adequate spacing while using all forms of backup heat during the winter months.

“Anytime you are using combustable fuels and things like that in the home, you want to follow the manufactures recommendations on proper spacing and care,” he said. “You also want to use proper fuel and make sure the fuel is recommended for the type of heater (you are using).”

When it comes to dealing Kerosene, Sandlin said you can have some discoloring mixed with Kerosene, depending on the level of refinement.

“Most Kerosene that you see that is labeled as K1 is a clear, type of Kerosene and it’s been refined to that level,” he said. “I would visually look at it, smell it, and you can obviously tell when something is not right with Kerosene. There’s a different smell and people that use Kerosene, usually know what Kerosene smells like.”

During what has been a week of significant snowfall and near below-zero temperatures, Sandlin said his fire department battled back-to-back structure fire calls this week.

“We did have two back-to-back during that (particular) shift,” he said. “That is kind of not normal. It just happens to be during this time of the year, we had two calls as far as two structure fires go.”

The Berea Fire Department issued a public safely alert on his social media platform on Friday, and public safety, Sandlin said, is always a top priority.

“We’re taking all the measures that we can to ensure the safety of our citizens,” he said.