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Minutes after celebrating his retirement from the police force, Warsaw Detective Sgt. Gerald Oswalt was on his police radio asking for firefighters to be dispatched to a Winona Lake residence.
Oswalt was driving past the Wilmer Bartel residence on Wooster Road shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday when he saw smoke. After calling in the fire, Oswalt rang the doorbell of the residence and found the occupants frantically searching the home for the source of fire, since smoke was filtering into the house and had set off smoke detectors. Oswalt asked the residents evacuate the home.
The fire was actually in the attached garage of the home, where the Bartels' 1999 GMC caught fire for an unknown reason. The fire spread to the garage, but flames didn't lick through to the residence.
Winona Lake firefighters were able to extinguish the fire at 902 Wooster Road in about 20 minutes and also rescued the Bartels' cat, Morris. Verna Bartel was relieved to be reunited with her pet and, according the WLFD Chief Roger Gelbaugh, the cat was grateful to get out of the house and offered its full cooperation to firefighters.
Verna said she and her husband were napping when the fire broke out and were awakened by smoke alarms just moments before Oswalt entered the home. No injuries were reported to occupants or firefighters. Damage to the vehicle and garage is estimated at $51,000. The home sustained some smoke damage.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
