An electrical fire broke out Tuesday afternoon at 5619 Richman Road, Chatham Township. “I think the entry team saved this house,” Chatham Township Fire Chief Byron Fike said. “The way it looked when we came up the driveway, I didn’t think we could save it.” (Photo by Lisa Hlavinka, The Gazette.)

CHATHAM TWP. — An electrical fire related to roof repairs nearly caused the loss of a Richman Road home Tuesday afternoon.

Township Fire Chief Byron Fike said the homeowner was repairing a leak in the roof above a bedroom on the north side of the house when a piece of electrical equipment accidentally caused the house to catch fire just a few minutes past noon.

Flames were shooting out of three bedroom windows and the sides of the house at 5619 Richman Road when firefighters arrived minutes later. An entry team was sent in to combat the flames, which had engulfed the bedroom in which the fire originated, Fike said.

“(The firefighters) got a really good knockdown,” he said. “I told them to be sure to watch the floor, because it can weaken and you’ll go through.”

Within about half an hour, the flames were under control, Fike said.

“I think the entry team saved this house,” he said. “The way it looked when we came up the driveway, I didn’t think we could save it.”

Smoke and water damaged other parts of the house, he said.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 3:15 p.m., Fike said, and there were no injuries.

Besides Chatham and Litchfield Township firefighters, who were the first on the scene, members of the Lafayette and Spencer departments assisted. Lodi Fire Department members staffed the Chatham fire station in case other emergency calls came in during the Richman Road fire, Fike said. The Medina County Red Cross also was on the scene.

“You don’t want something like this to happen, but when it does, you like to see something good come out of it,” Fike said. “This time, we were able to save a young man’s house.”

Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.