There was nothing to indicate fire was coming from anywhere but the attic when two fire chiefs entered a burning home's kitchen to begin an internal attack.
Nothing, that is, until one of them fell through the floor. Blue Lake Township Fire Chief Jim Petrie said all indications were that the fire was in the attic of the home in Holton Township that caught fire before 1 p.m. Monday.
He and Dalton Township Fire Chief Alan Styles had responded to Holton Township's call for help and entered the burning one-story dwelling on Syers Road not far from Holton High School.
"Every sign from the structure was that it was in the attic," Petrie said. "Neither one of us had a clue that there was fire underneath us." Petrie said they had just noticed flames coming from behind the refrigerator when the floor gave way.
"(Styles) hollered out 'Jimmy!' I said, 'I'm going down,'" Petrie said.
It wasn't a hard fall into the home's basement because Petrie ended up straddling electrical lines. Rather, he said, it was a "slow descent."
"Initially there was that shock...Then I was like 'Hey I've got to get my head back. I've got to get back in the game,'" Petrie said.