GENOA, Ohio — Lisa Dunn of Genoa was just sitting in her home office back in July doing some work as her children played upstairs when a man knocked on her front door.
"When I opened the door, he told me my house was on fire. And then I turned an saw the flames on my back wall."
Lisa managed to get her kids down from upstairs and get everyone safely out of the house, only to watch from the front yard as the flames ravaged their beautiful home. It was a terrifying moment. They escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs.
By the time the fire department got the blaze under control, the home was lost. It was still standing, but the damage was pervasive. The back of the house was gone, the roof mostly open and the inside was charred and blackened.
It was a close call, and one that Lisa and her husband Dewey would have never thought they would experience, and the cause is what has left them scratching their heads.
"Undetermined" is the official ruling, but all signs point to the mulch that was around their back deck. Black mulch, to be specific, which has been linked in other similar fires around the country with speculation that it may have spontaneously combusted.
It was a hot day, following a weeks worth of hot and dry days, the perfect storm for black mulch (which attracts more heat) to begin to decompose and produce enough heat to smolder. Add a little wind or a breeze and it can combust into an open flame. Lisa believes that's what happened in their case.
Fire investigators around the nation are beginning to recognize the potential fire hazards of mulch, especially when that mulch is placed too thick and too close to a structure that is flammable, such as wood and vinyl siding for example. The Ohio State Fire Marshal said his office now recommends homeowners place a stone or gravel barrier between the mulch and the structure and that barrier should be no less than 18 inches in width. Fire prevention experts also suggest that during hot spells, it is a good idea to keep the mulch watered to reduce chances that it could catch fire.
Lisa said she wished she would have known about the dangers of mulch, or black mulch and wonders why there aren't warnings placed on the bags of mulch that people buy in stores.
"Had I known about these dangers, I would have done something about it," she said.