Posted 10:19 am Monday, May 21, 2012
Send to Kindle
Fire Crews Battle Blazes At Two Different Locations
TylerPaper.com video
By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer
A call from friends interrupted a late Sunday afternoon cookout at the lake for Robert Crane and Cindy Neely. Friends called to tell them their home was on fire.
Staff Writer
A call from friends interrupted a late Sunday afternoon cookout at the lake for Robert Crane and Cindy Neely. Friends called to tell them their home was on fire.
By the time the couple returned, their mobile home on Fox Hollow Drive, near the intersection of Loop 49 and Old Jacksonville Highway, was razed, save a section of the front wall. Everything they owned, Crane said, was gone.
Everything likely included pets — three of four small dogs, Maggie, Chloe, a blind Chihuahua named Tigger and a newly arrived German Shepherd puppy, Bonnie.
Everything likely included pets — three of four small dogs, Maggie, Chloe, a blind Chihuahua named Tigger and a newly arrived German Shepherd puppy, Bonnie.
The material items lost within the smoldering wood and twisted metal appeared secondary as Ms. Neely and Crane surveyed the scene as firefighters tended to hot spots and prepared to make a search of the scene.
“I don't know where to start,” Crane told a friend who asked if they needed anything or a place to stay. “Everything we own is in that home.”
After more than 30 hopeless minutes, a firefighter found Bonnie hugged up against the backyard fence as far away as possible from the charred outline left in the grass by flames.
The fire call came about 5 p.m., Smith County Assistant Fire Marshal Oren Hale said. Flint-Gresham, Noonday and Bullard departments worked the fire scene.
“I don't know where to start,” Crane told a friend who asked if they needed anything or a place to stay. “Everything we own is in that home.”
After more than 30 hopeless minutes, a firefighter found Bonnie hugged up against the backyard fence as far away as possible from the charred outline left in the grass by flames.
The fire call came about 5 p.m., Smith County Assistant Fire Marshal Oren Hale said. Flint-Gresham, Noonday and Bullard departments worked the fire scene.
Bullard Fire Chief Keith Newburn was the first to arrive. By the time he and his truck arrived on scene flames had fully engulfed the home he said.
“It was all strictly defensive at that point,” he said. “There was nothing we could do but keep it from spreading.”
The neighbor's Cadillac, parked 20 feet from the home, was smoking when Newburn and his crew arrived. The car was saved but bubbled and blackened paint on its side showed signs of the heat.
Michelle Simington, a neighbor, said neighborhood men had knocked on the door to see if anyone was home after the fire started. One man kicked in the front door and stepped inside before being overcome by smoke. There was a chance that another dog escaped she said.
“It was all strictly defensive at that point,” he said. “There was nothing we could do but keep it from spreading.”
The neighbor's Cadillac, parked 20 feet from the home, was smoking when Newburn and his crew arrived. The car was saved but bubbled and blackened paint on its side showed signs of the heat.
Michelle Simington, a neighbor, said neighborhood men had knocked on the door to see if anyone was home after the fire started. One man kicked in the front door and stepped inside before being overcome by smoke. There was a chance that another dog escaped she said.
The men also saved Crane's truck, which was parked in front of the home, by rolling it away from the flames.
Firefighters continued their work as Ms. Neely held Bonnie tight, sobbing. A look of tragic relief gripped her face as her daughter and friends searched the neighborhood for the other pets.
Bullard and Noonday fire units left the scene to respond to another fire at ShadyBrook on Elizabeth Street, near southern Lake Palestine, which began around 7:20 p.m. The mobile home was a total loss, Newburn said, but the occupants escaped unharmed.
Firefighters continued their work as Ms. Neely held Bonnie tight, sobbing. A look of tragic relief gripped her face as her daughter and friends searched the neighborhood for the other pets.
Bullard and Noonday fire units left the scene to respond to another fire at ShadyBrook on Elizabeth Street, near southern Lake Palestine, which began around 7:20 p.m. The mobile home was a total loss, Newburn said, but the occupants escaped unharmed.
