Fire Page

These Pictures were taken from

the "Alton Telegraph" newspaper September 22, 1998.

After this picture was taken,

I got my water, and extinguished the entire fire (inside and out) in less than 10 minutes.

Get the whole story

(Names have been removed as a courtesy to the victim)

KEROSENE LAMP SPARKS HOUSE FIRE By Bethany Behrhorst Telegraph staff writer FOSTERBURG - The home owner sat in a green and white checkered lawn chair at a neighbor's driveway petting her frazzled miniature dachshund, Hildi, after a four-alarm Fire gutted her home just before lunchtime Monday. The fire began around 11 a.m. at the ____ block of ____ Lane in Foster Township. The homeowner had been wrapping up items she planned to donate to her son's girlfriend for a yard sale later in the afternoon. She picked up a tiny kerosene lamp and ignited it to make sure it worked before wrapping it to sell. After a failed attempt to extinguish the lamp, The homeowner decided to go into another room. She stumbled over Hildi and the lamp flew across the room - landing on a mattress. The mattress began to smolder and the homeowner said she grabbed a blanket, which she used to fight the emerging flames. ' 'I started trying to hit it with that," she said. "I kept thinking I needed flour or water. I didn't have anything. All I had was a cake pan." She filled a cake pan with water and threw it on the fire. Quickly, the fire spread to the floor and then to the drapes and some clothing in the house. "I didn't know what to do," she said. "I didn't know what else to do. I knew I was going to have to leave." Hildi darted out the back door while the homeowner was left to hurriedly scoop up her five small kittens. She carefully placed them in cages four in one and the tiniest in another. She then looked around for her crutches, which she needs to walk further than a few feet. Smoke began to rise from the floor, posing imminent danger. The homeowner grabbed a green-handled broom, which she decided to use as a crutch, snatched up the cages and left the house. She dropped off the cages about 10 feet from the house, near a sidewalk. Because she could not find her cordless phone, she was unable to call the fire department before leaving the house without any of her belongings. The homeowner's neighbors placed the 911 emergency call summoning the Fosterburg Fire Department to the scene shortly before 11:30 a.m. Lt. Joe "FIREBALL", a nine-year veteran of the Fosterburg Fire Department, was one of the first to arrive at the scene. He heard the screeching of the tiny kittens who were dangerously close to the house. "They started screaming when the heat got to them," he said. "I ran over (to the kittens) and got them and put them behind the dumpster to protect them from the heat." He picked up the cages and carefully placed the kittens behind a small dumpster about 40 feet from the house. The fire department called for assistance. Cottage Hills and Rosewood Heights as well as the Brighton Betsy Ann Protection District responded to the call. "The situation was contained within the time frame of a half hour," said Fire Chief John Holtorf of the Fosterburg Fire Department.

Three pictures in the paper, Front Page,  the same day,

Last Updated: February 05, 1999
Copyright Fireball © 1999