By STACEY PAGE
EDITOR

Firefighters battled high winds as they fought a house fire in North Webster today.

A Cardinal Services group home, in the 300 block of Hickory Street, was ruled a total loss after a fire reportedly started in or around a cigarette butt receptacle on a back porch and quickly spread to the exterior. Kosciusko County Squad 70 Chief Gordon Baker said Monday’s high winds fueled the flames.

The initial 9-1-1 call came in at about 4:15 p.m. Neighbors and witnesses at the scene said there were three people in the home when the fire started and all were safely evacuated.

North Webster Fire Department was assisted on scene by Syracuse Fire Department, the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department and the North Webster Police Department.

Kosciusko County Squad 70, the fire investigation team, was called to the scene just before 6 p.m. when the fire was finally extinguished.