Fire destroys historic Ashland house

ASHLAND, Neb. (WOWT) – The call went out at 2:20 a.m. Tuesday that a historic house in Ashland, Nebraska was on fire. The first officer to arrive reported it was fully engulfed in flames.

In the end, the Israel Beetison House just off the Mahoney exit of Interstate 80 was destroyed.

The Ashland Fire Department had to take defensive measures to put the fire out.

The fire marshal will investigate the cause.

According to the city of Ashland, the house was built in 1874-1875 and was listed on the National Register in 1976. It was sold in 1999 and had been vacant ever since.

A team of consultants involving the city and developer conducted an on-site evaluation in February of this year to evaluate the house’s structural integrity and condition of historic fabric.

It found the house will need structural stabilization and total renovation. A renovation would cost about $1 million.

Sisters Krista Sender and Kim Streich spent countless days at the Beetison House as kids. Their grandparents lived here, and it was built by their great-great grandfather, Israel Beetison.

They’re now tearfully remembering what once stood.

“It’s just heart wrenching to think that my grandparents worked all their lives to keep such a beautiful home, and now it’s gone,” says Sender.

“It was more than just a house. It was a home filled with love and our grandparents and dad, our aunt and uncle,” says Streich.

Copyright 2022 WOWT. All rights reserved.