By Bonnie Culverhouse

It took Minden Firefighters less than 30 minutes to extinguish a fire in one of Minden’s oldest residences Friday.

Fire Chief Brian Williams said a call concerning the fire in Minden’s Historic District came in around 4:33 p.m.

“There was a small fire in the crawl space between the second floor and the attic,” Williams said, of the house located at the corner of Homer Road and Elm Street. “We were a little bit delayed finding the fire and accessing it. We set up the ladder truck, entered into the attic space and knocked it down quickly.”

Williams said the fire was possibly caused by a lightning strike to a tree on the east side of the house.

“There was damage to a tree close to the house. We just can’t say for sure where it came into the house,” he said. “The cause is still under investigation. It appears it could’ve been weather-related.”

The fire was out in less than 30 minutes, he said, causing “moderate” damage.

Known as the Stewart House, the residence is located at 101 Homer Road. According to the Minden Historic Residential District website, the house was built in 1903 by attorney Daniel Webster Stewart and his artist wife Alice. Their daughter, Mary Stewart, was the last Stewart to live in the house. The family sold it in 1995. Craig and Mona Farley lived there for a number of years.

Williams said he does not know who currently owns the house.  He said there were 2 persons at home at the time. They were checked by Emergency Medical Services and released.

(Special thanks to the person who sent the drone shot to Minden Fire Department and Brian Williams for sharing it with Webster Parish Journal.)