A Friday morning fire destroyed family of four’s home on Hughes Road.
Howard Cook lived in the house with his wife, son and daughter. No one was home when the house caught fire about 9 a.m. Friday.
Columbus Fire & Rescue battalion chief Wayne Doyle said he did not know where in the house the fire started. Flames had already spread to the roof, causing the middle of the roof to collapse, by the time emergency crews arrived.
Cook’s neighbors and family members gathered in the yard and along the driveway as firefighters battled the smoke and flames for more than an hour and a half. The front of the house collapsed around 10:40 a.m. By the time the first firetruck left around 11 a.m., the only remains of the house were some exterior walls and blackened beams from the interior.
Authorities continued to investigate the cause of the fire Friday afternoon.
Cook’s family has requested clothes, food and furniture to be dropped off at 275 Viking Drive in Columbus. The clothes sizes needed are women’s smalls, 2X, men’s XL and large shirts, men’s pants 36-34 and 32-32, and size 5 and 8 shoes for women and size 10 shoes for men.
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