Fire burns firefighter's house
YONCALLA, Ore. - Firefighters fought a tough blaze at the home of one of their own Thursday.
No one was hurt, but the family dog died in the blaze.
A neighbor called 911 and tried to fight the flames with a garden hose. Lori Joslyn says the flames were intense. "They were red hot, they were shooting out. It was good hot fire. It was definitely a hot fire," she said.
Joslyn jumped into action after calling 911. She and another neighbor grabbed a water hose and aimed it at the flames. "There's a hose out right front there but we didn't have much water pressure or anything so it was too far started. There was no putting it out for us anyway."
The North Douglas County fire responded to the Yoncalla home within minutes, but it took them more than three hours to put it out.
The home belonged to assistant fire chief Mike Grimes. Many firefighters were very upset to hear one of their own lost their house in a fire. No one in the home was hurt but a family pet, a dog, did pass in the fire.
Fire Captain Rance Pilley says the fire started on the first floor.
More than 30 firefighters from North Douglas and all way from Sutherlin responded.
Pilley says the fire was difficult to put out because of the layout of the house. "Boxed in rooms like attic dorm rooms that are on the roof lines of the house that have no access," he said. "So, we have to cut into those areas, doorways to extinguish the fire."
This sort of reminds me of the time here in Veneta when a house that sat on the same block as the fire station on McCutcheon burnt to the ground at 2 in the afternoon about 15-20 years ago. Â
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But on a more serious note, sorry to hear about the loss of the family pet. At least no human member of the family was hurt and that is a good thing .