RIPLEY – Ripley volunteer firefighters were dispatched to two fires less than an hour apart late Saturday afternoon, Aug. 14.

On Saturday at 4:36 p. m. Ripley volunteer firefighters were dispatched to a fire at Industrial Timber on County Road 549.

Employees were safely exiting the building, when firefighters arrived to find a smoldering fire inside an upright sawdust collection system located outside the main building.

While some firefighters worked inside the building to locate the source of the fire which had spread through the duct work, others had to stretch a fire hose approximately 30 feet up the outside of the dust collector silo. There they worked in full turnout gear on a small platform to completely extinguish the fire, Fire Chief Randy Jeter said.

The fire appeared to have come from smoldering embers created from overheated equipment during the normal production process. Those embers then traveled through a network of vacuum lines, spreading fire throughout the system ending up in the collection silo, firefighters said.

While still working the fire on County Road 549, Ripley firefighters were dispatched at 5:26 p. m. to a fire at the home of Jennifer Riddle on County Road 813. The four children who were home escaped safely and used a neighbor's phone to call 911 and report the fire.

Additional firefighters and equipment from inside the city responded to this call, with some units leaving the industrial fire to assist, Chief Jeter said.

Firefighters safely extinguished the fire, containing most of the damage to the kitchen.

The fire originated on the stove when a pan of grease was left unattended and ignited. Firefighters found the fire spreading up the cabinets toward the ceiling when they arrived and quickly extinguished it, minimizing structural damage to the home, according to County Fire Investigator Martin Henderson.

Firefighters cleared the Industrial Timber scene at 6:35 p. m. Firefighters cleared the residence fire call at 6:18 p.m., records indicated.