Two fires in same location within 12 hours

CLEVELAND Fire units responded to a residential fire in Cleveland at the same location twice within a 12-hour period Monday.

First, Cleveland Fire Chief Ricky Pruitt said they were dispatched just before 4:00 a.m. to 762 Hood Street.  Pruitt said at that time firefighters discovered a fire in the laundry room which the homeowner had almost extinguished with a water hose.  

Chief Pruitt said firefighters removed the dryer and discovered some smoldering clothes inside it. They then set up a fan to remove the remaining smoke from the house.  The Damage was contained to the laundry room.   

Then, Monday afternoon, a neighbor spotted flames coming from the same house  and called 911.   

The second fire is believed to have started in a bedroom on the opposite end of the home from the first one.  White County Fire Dept. spokeswoman Ana Newberry said following the first fire a thermal imagining camera was used to check the house for any extension of the fire.

Newberry added, " we really don't understand how this could have happened again, but we do have the state fire investigator coming later (Monday)."