House Fire on Rossmore Avenue in Fort Thomas

An Unbelievable Set Of Events Leave Fort Thomas Home Owners and Neighbors Dumbfounded 

A house fire at Rossmore Avenue broke out after 11:00 p.m. on 3-17-16. VIDEO below. FTM file. 

A house fire broke out in the 30 block of Rossmore Avenue in Fort Thomas around 11:30 p.m. last night. Fire crews from Fort Thomas and Southgate were on scene and could be seen traversing ladders to the second story of the home while neighbors looked on into the early morning of March 18.

No one was hurt in the fire. Four people were displaced. Reportedly, there were three occupants in the home and were sleeping, when they were awakened by the fire alarm and escaped with their dog.

FTM file. 

For some neighbors on the street, the fire conjured frightening circumstances of a similar incident a little over nine years ago. The scene then: a house fire woke up neighbors three hours after the ball dropped in Times Square to ring in New Year's Day in 2006.

Amazingly enough, that fire only occurred four houses away, on the same side of the street on Rossmore Avenue.

Even more improbable: the occupants of that home in 2006 were also the occupants of the home that caught fire last night.

Two fires on the same street, with the same family involved.

"It was like deja vu tonight. I came home from work on New Year's Eve in 2005 and just saw flames pouring out of the house up the street. On the same side of the street as the one tonight" said Jennifer Kohl, who lives one street over on Altamont. "Tonight I saw bright lights and smoke rolling over the trees. It was so heavy I thought it was fog. I went outside and came over to see if everyone was alright and saw flames, again, pouring out of the second-floor windows."

Kohl said that she saw firefighters go inside both levels of the home and use their axes to bust out all the windows.

FTM file. 

At around 1:00 a.m., firefighters could be seen escorting the adjacent neighbors back into their homes. A group of neighbors, family and friends gathered on the porch across the street with the home owners of the burned home to offer support and solace to the couple.

A report on the house fire from the night in 2006 reads in part, "There was a recent structure fire at 17 Rossmore Avenue at 3:37 a.m. on New Year's morning. The six persons on duty at the fire house arrived at 3:41 a.m. to discover a fully involved fire with no one home at the time. (Chief Mark Bailey) said that although the Kentucky Fire Marshal's Office is investigating, the probable cause is electrical."

There were also no injuries in that fire.

FTM will update this story.