Ross Township fire marshal: Power strip set sofa ablaze

A Ross Township couple escaped safely from their home early Tuesday after smoke alarms alerted them to an electrical fire in the living room of their Spruce Valley Drive home, according to authorities.

The family’s dog also got out of the house, but their cat did not survive, according to Ross Fire Marshal John Reubi.

Reubi said it appears that a power strip plugged into the wall failed and set the sofa on fire.

“It was a smoldering fire that caused heavy smoke,” Reubi said. “When firefighters arrived, the windows were so blackened with smoke that they couldn’t see the flames inside the house.”

Reubi said there were two operating smoke detectors in the house.

“The smoke was so intense that there’s a good chance they wouldn’t have made it out of if the detectors didn’t wake them up,” Reubi said.

Crews responded to the fire just after 4 a.m. Tuesday. The fire was quickly extinguished, and damage from flames was contained to the sofa and an end table, Reubi said.

Damage from water used to extinguish the flames also was minimal, and the only structural damage was to a door and two windows. But the amount of damage caused by smoke likely will require extensive renovations before the house is habitable, Reubi said.

“They’re probably going to have to tear out most of the drywall in the house because the smoke was so intense that it penetrated into it,” he said. “It’s not something you can remove by just washing them.”