Overland Avenue Fire Under Investigation

A house fire at 1016 Overland Ave. NE caused about $50,000 in damage and killed four cats Thursday afternoon.

Chief John Bacon said two dogs escaped and no other injuries were reported.

The fire department received the call for service about 4:10 p.m. and had the fire put out within 15 to 20 minutes. The fire started in the kitchen and caused extensive damage to that room with moderate to heavy smoke damage throughout the single-story home.

Bacon said the residents were not home when the fire started.

Neighbor Tom Johnson had noticed smoke coming from the house and called 911.

“My dad was painting and I looked over and saw smoke coming out of the chimney. I figured it was a little hot to be running a heater,” Johnson said. “We ran over and saw smoke coming from around the back of the house.”

The fire caused about $35,000 in damage to the structure and $15,000 to the contents.

The North Canton Fire Department responded with two engines, one ladder truck, one medic unit and 15 firefighters. Greentown Fire assisted with one engine and five personnel.

All units were back in service at 6:50 p.m.