DAVIDSON—Firefighters from Davidson and Craik volunteer departments responded to a house fire Sunday, March 29 in the R. M. of Willner.

Davidson fire chief Clayton Schilling said a 911 call came in at 11:58 a.m. Sunday that the house of Jerry and Shelley Woodman, about one mile off the 749 Girvin Grid southwest of Davidson, was on fire.

Shelley noticed smoke coming from the roof of the one-storey house when she returned home from church and called it in, Jerry said.

No one was inside the house. Jerry said Shelley had gone to church and he and his son were away from home picking up some tools. He quickly returned home when he learned of the fire.

Craik and Davidson firefighters arrived soon after.

“They weren’t very far behind us,” Jerry said.

Schilling said when firefighters arrived Shelley and her son were spraying water onto the fire through a basement window.

He said three firefighters quickly suited up and fought the fire from the inside. The fire was contained to the northeast half of the basement.

Schilling said the fire was easy to put out with firefighters from Davidson and Craik putting water on it.

From the outside, Schilling said a person wouldn’t know the house had been on fire, however, smoke damage to the entire house and its contents was extensive.

Schilling said smoke was pouring out of the roof vents when they arrived on scene.

Jerry said they are currently living in a camper trailer in the farmyard for the time being.

An insurance adjuster has been on site and Jerry said a crew was out last Tuesday to start cleaning out the contents.

The fire was determined to have been caused by an unattended candle that was left burning in a basement bedroom.

Fire crews were on scene for about three hours with seven firefighters from Davidson and 12 from Craik’s responding. The Craik volunteer department happened to be conducting First Aid training that day, so all its firefighters were in Craik and able to respond.