Weruj1
06-13-2004, 10:07 PM
http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=46&id=31595
Utah Firefighters Inadvertently Start House Fire; Community Service Deed Goes Wrong
CHRISTOPHER SMART
Courtesy of The Salt Lake City Tribune
When members of the Minersville Volunteer Fire Department set out to clean up 83-year-old Eleanor Craw's yard, they didn't intend to burn down her house.
She just kept saying, 'I can't believe it. I can't believe it,' " said neighbor Mary Faye Marshall, who saw Wednesday's flames and ran up the street to aid her elderly Beaver County neighbor.
Craw was unhurt, but she lost a lifetime of memories and mementos, said her daughter Donna Seegmiller. "She's doing fine, but she's just really upset about the whole thing."
Craw has gone to live with family in St. George and will never return to Minersville, Seegmiller said Friday.
"She doesn't want to talk about it. She's lost everything," Seegmiller said. "Mainly memory things that have been in the family over 100 years. Things that were handed down from her grandfather and that she wanted to pass along to her kids."
The house and a shed are a complete loss, said Beaver County Sheriff Kenneth Yardley.
"There were some fellas up there who were attempting to clean up her yard with fire," the sheriff said. "They thought it was out and left. When they got called back, the house was in flames."
The volunteers of Beaver County's Fire District No. 2 are "just sick" about the loss, Chief Les Whitney told The Associated Press. "Did the firefighters screw up? Most definitely -- and they know it."
Whitney told the AP the challenge now is to keep up morale so the firefighters won't leave the volunteer department. "If we run them out of here, who suffers in the long run?"
The firefighters were attempting a good deed, said Marshall, who has lived next door to Craw for many years. "They were trying to clean the weeds up around her place so there wouldn't be a fire later this summer."
But strong wind gusts blew hot embers that ignited the shed. Flames spread to a tree and then to the house. "It got in that old shed and it just went up," Marshall said. "The wind blew it like a blowtorch."
The National Weather Service had issued warnings about winds between 24 and 45 mph before Wednesday's burn.
Utah Firefighters Inadvertently Start House Fire; Community Service Deed Goes Wrong
CHRISTOPHER SMART
Courtesy of The Salt Lake City Tribune
When members of the Minersville Volunteer Fire Department set out to clean up 83-year-old Eleanor Craw's yard, they didn't intend to burn down her house.
She just kept saying, 'I can't believe it. I can't believe it,' " said neighbor Mary Faye Marshall, who saw Wednesday's flames and ran up the street to aid her elderly Beaver County neighbor.
Craw was unhurt, but she lost a lifetime of memories and mementos, said her daughter Donna Seegmiller. "She's doing fine, but she's just really upset about the whole thing."
Craw has gone to live with family in St. George and will never return to Minersville, Seegmiller said Friday.
"She doesn't want to talk about it. She's lost everything," Seegmiller said. "Mainly memory things that have been in the family over 100 years. Things that were handed down from her grandfather and that she wanted to pass along to her kids."
The house and a shed are a complete loss, said Beaver County Sheriff Kenneth Yardley.
"There were some fellas up there who were attempting to clean up her yard with fire," the sheriff said. "They thought it was out and left. When they got called back, the house was in flames."
The volunteers of Beaver County's Fire District No. 2 are "just sick" about the loss, Chief Les Whitney told The Associated Press. "Did the firefighters screw up? Most definitely -- and they know it."
Whitney told the AP the challenge now is to keep up morale so the firefighters won't leave the volunteer department. "If we run them out of here, who suffers in the long run?"
The firefighters were attempting a good deed, said Marshall, who has lived next door to Craw for many years. "They were trying to clean the weeds up around her place so there wouldn't be a fire later this summer."
But strong wind gusts blew hot embers that ignited the shed. Flames spread to a tree and then to the house. "It got in that old shed and it just went up," Marshall said. "The wind blew it like a blowtorch."
The National Weather Service had issued warnings about winds between 24 and 45 mph before Wednesday's burn.