East Liverpool Police Capt. John Headley assists East Liverpool Firefighter Nate Ketchum with changing out a SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) bottle for his air-pack while at a structure fire Thursday morning at 705 Bradshaw Ave. (Submitted photo)

EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool Fire Department with help from Liverpool Township Volunteer Department and the fire chief and assistant fire chief from Hartville Fire Department battled a fire that started in the kitchen of a house located at 705 Bradshaw Ave. Thursday morning.

The fire department was called out to the fire at 10 a.m. and had the fire under control within 10 to 15 minutes, Fire Chief Antony Cumo said.

The fire department at that time had a crew out on a call right around the corner at Ravine and Blakely streets and were able to respond quickly to the Bradshaw Avenue fire.

The two firefighters who initially arrived at the scene received help from the chief and assistant chief from Hartville, who happened to be up the road cleaning out at house at the time of the fire.

East Liverpool and Liverpool Township police departments and the utility companies were also on scene.

Cumo said the crew remained on site because there were a lot of hot spots, one of which was in the bathroom floor underneath the bathtub, which was located above the kitchen. Firefighters dug for more than an hour looking for hotspots.

“It could have been way worse,” Cumo said of the fire. “If someone hadn’t called quick and we wouldn’t have gotten there quick it would have been a lot worse.”

Cumo also noted the neighboring house was only located a couple of feet away and smoke was coming out of the house on fire and going into the eaves of the neighboring house, so crews had to go into the neighboring house, which was abandoned, to make sure the fire didn’t spread into it.

The house while not a total loss is unable to be occupied at the current time due to the amount of smoke damage.

Cumo said the fire was contained for the most part to the kitchen because of the crew’s quick response.

He also noted that the house is not currently being lived in and there was no power to the house, either.

The state fire marshal was called in. Cumo noted that the fire marshal was called in not because they think the fire is suspicious, but it’s just what they do now. There is no suspected cause at this time and is being investigated.

There were no injuries sustained by anyone as a result of the fire.