BEATRICE – What was reported as a possible explosion inside an east Beatrice house Monday morning, was likely a motorcycle tire exploding. That’s according to the Beatrice Fire Department, citing an investigation into the fire that broke out at 1505 East Court Street.

Firefighters removed the motorcycle through the front door of the house. There were two motorcycles inside. Fire Chief Brian Daake says there were also some propane cylinders, but none had failed in the fire.

As for the cause of the blaze, Daake says investigation traced the problem to a failed power strip. A state fire marshal investigator and firefighters noticed a hole burned in the floor, in rear middle portion of the living room.
"Various items in the area that could have potentially started the fire, but it got narrowed down to a power strip, and the power strip had been charging a number of different things in the room. When power strips fail, they fail from the inside and then all the plastic is melted away....so you just have the strips on the inside. We had talked about possibly a heat lamp, but it had not melted all the way down to the fixture part. So, through the process of elimination, it was the power strip".

Firefighters were sent to the house at 10:42 a.m. The structure, along the south side of the street, was not occupied and was being used for temporary storage. Daake said there was a significant loss in the fire. "Forty thousand dollars, between the contents and the building".

Meanwhile, a fire that broke out early the morning of December 27th along South 4th Street rekindled the day after, destroying the structure.
Fire Captain Corey Lieneman says strong winds likely rekindled that fire, which sent personnel back to the scene about 24 hours after the first fire, at 701 South 4th.

Lieneman says the structure was engulfed in flames when firefighters were sent back to the scene, but he said the first fire essentially totaled the home.

Damage to South 4th Street home, following rekindling of fire

Damage to South 4th Street home, following rekindling of fire