UPDATE @ 12:11 p.m. Aug. 8: About 75 volunteers turned out this morning at the Ludlow falls church camp, where a fire broke out early in the morning Aug. 3 and destroyed several cottages.
Volunteers of various ages and faiths cleared away fire charred remains.
Lightning was found to have caused the blaze, which destroyed five cabins and damaged six others.
The damage estimate is now at $50,000.
UPDATE @12:46 p.m. Aug. 3: Officials have ruled a morning fire at the Ludlow Falls Camp as undetermined, but not suspicious.
Lightning has not been ruled out. The cottage where the fire is believed to have started burned to the ground, so it will be hard to prove a cause, officials said.
UPDATE @ 7:30 a.m.:
Firefighters are investigating after several cottages were damaged from fires Monday morning at the Ludlow Falls Camp.
Crews were first dispatched to the camp, 2535 South Ohio 48, about 4:15 a.m. after smoke and flames were reported in the area of the cottages.
Firefighters say five of the 71 cottages were heavily damaged. Damage was estimated at $30,000.
No injuries have been reported. Officials said no one was inside the cottages and a camp of around 250 ended Sunday.
Camp officials add the cottages were built sometime in the 1950s about 60 years after the camp was established in the 1890s. Crews blocked a portion of Ohio 48 while they battled the blaze, but allowed the road to reopen around 7 a.m.
UPDATE @ 5:15 a.m.:
Firefighters in Ludlow Falls say a fires in several cottages are now under control and contained at the Ludlow Falls Camp.
Crews believed the blazes might have spread due to the close proximity of each building.
Hundreds of people were camping there over the weekend, but it was not immediately known if anyone was inside any of the cottages when the fires started.
Firefighters from Ludlow Falls, West Milton, Laura, Pleasant Hill, and Darke County all responded to the call.
It’s also unknown if the fire was caused by the line of storms that passed through around the same time.
FIRST REPORT
Several fire departments in Miami and Darke counties have responded to reports of several cottages on fire at the Ludlow Falls Missionary Church Camp.
Crews were around 4:15 a.m. to the camp at 2535 South Ohio 48 after callers reported multiple cottages were on fire at the camp.
It’s unknown if the cottages were occupied when the fires began or if the cause of the blaze might be weather related.
We have a crew heading to the scene and will update this page when new information is available.
