A Tippecanoe man was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital Thursday afternoon in serious condition following a house fire.
Jason Oldham, 3038 Baugher Drive, Tippecanoe, was airlifted by Samaritan helicopter to the St. Joseph Regional Burn Center, Fort Wayne, in serious condition after his house was fully engulfed Thursday afternoon.
Tippecanoe, Mentone, Argos and Bourbon volunteer fire departments responded to the fire on Baugher Drive.
The Marshall County call for a fire came around 11 a.m., but the Mentone Fire Department was not requested until 12:05 p.m.
Mentone Fire Department Chief Mike Yazel said that they received the call of a house fire in Tippecanoe where flames were showing and the home owner refused to leave the home. Yazel and the Mentone Fire Department responded with a fire engine, two tankers, a rescue unit and 13 firefighters.
“The home was fully engulfed when we arrived,” Yazel said. “All of the departments on scene when we arrived were severely short-handed.”
Yazel and his men assisted in knocking down the fire at the one-story home. They then set up the landing zone for the Samaritan helicopter to extricate Oldham. Yazel and his crew were on the scene for approximately an hour.
