UPDATED AT 3:20 P.M. with a news release from Hays Fire Chief Ryan Hagans.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Former Hays resident Seth Toepfer and his wife Caysha, now living in Austin, Texas, were back in town visiting her mom and woke up to smoke in the house late Friday morning.
"We were all sleeping in and woke up to the smell of smoke," Seth Toepfer said, as the family stood across the street watching Hays firefighters at Dianne Johnson's home, 212 W. 17th.
"I thought my mom was fixing breakfast," Caysha Toepfer said.
As his mother-in-law called 911 shortly at 11:17 a.m., Seth Toepfer found smoke in the attic.
According to a news release from Ryan Hagans, fire chief, crews arrived on scene at 11:20 a.m. and reported smoke coming out of the roof. All occupants were outside. The fire was located in the attic on the front side of the house.
The fire was extinguished by cutting a hole in the roof above the fire using a 1 ¾” handline. Fire crews covered most of the occupants' belongings with salvage covers before removing the ceiling and insulation to check for fire spread.
A large ceiling fan was removed and brought out the front door.
The fire department stayed on scene until 1:50 p.m. and will return several times throughout the afternoon checking on the structure and occupants.
The cause of the fire was malfunctioning electrical equipment.
The Hays Fire Department was assisted by the Hays Police Department, Ellis County Fire Department and Ellis County EMS.
At the scene, Hagans said no one had been injured.
Another family member, 11-year-old Daltyn Schleder had also been sleeping in the house.
"He's at a neighbor's house now," said his mom Diane Johnson. "He was pretty upset."
Johnson said she had "just made a claim with my insurance agent about hail damage from the recent storm, but fortunately, the roof hasn't been replaced yet."