January 21, 1984

Fires tax White River township firefighters

       A fire that caused $300,000 damage and destroyed a White River Township home was among a rash of fires that kept firefighters throughout Johnson County busy this weekend.  The fire, which leveled the home of Joseph and Mary Egenolf at 1281 S. State Road 135, raged for several hours Saturday evening and night.  The house, located on the east side of State Road 135 about two miles south of Smith Valley Road, was destroyed, along with all the family’s possessions.  Three other weekend fires, all of them involving mobile homes, left three Johnson County families homeless, and Edinburgh firefighters were kept busy early today fighting two fires in Edinburgh and assisting at a warehouse blaze in Columbus.  No one suffered major injuries in any of the fires.  The blaze that destroyed the Egenolf home was the largest of the fires.  More than 50 firefighters from eight area departments were at the scene for about nine hours.  Three White River Township firefighters suffered minor injuries while fighting the blaze.  The Egenolf family dog was killed after it refused to leave the burning building despite calls from its masters.  Egenolf, his wife and two children were home when the fire was discovered in a back bedroom about 5:30 p.m.  Egenolf said he had just finished showering and was watching television when a smoke alarm sounded.  He said he first thought his son Peter, who had just come into the house from feeding livestock, was fiddling with the alarm and had set it off accidentally.  Peter said when he went to check the alarm, he noticed a lot of smoke in the bedroom.  “I looked in there.  The curtain was all on fire.  About one minute after that, the whole place was engulfed.”  Mrs. Egenolf said the family did not stop to retrieve any belongings before fleeing. “When the fire alarm. sounded, Joe said, ‘Grab your coats,” she said.  “I thought, ‘The fire department will come and get it out,” she said Saturday night as she watched firefighters vainly attempt to save the house. “I just can’t believe it’s going so fast.”  White River Fire Chief Steve Shelton said flames were already breaking through the roof when the first fire truck arrived at the house six minutes after the alarm.  Two White River firefighters, Damon Duncan and Bill Foote, were momentarily trapped in the house by flames early in the fire.  Foote said he and Duncan entered the house and moved down a hallway to the bedroom where the fire was first discovered. They applied water and had extinguished the flames that were visible and were on their way out when another firefighter shouted that fire had spread, blocking their path.  The firemen had to dash through the flames to escape.  Foote suffered first-degree facial burns and later suffered frostbite on his hands. Duncan was not injured as he ran from the home, but later twisted his ankle while fighting the fire. A third firefighter, Glen Duthie, also suffered frostbitten hands.  All three were treated for their injuries at St. Francis Hospital Center, Beech Grove, then released.  Shelton said an inadequate water supply and the severe cold combined to hinder firefighting efforts.  He said after pumping the first tanker load of 3,000 gallons of water onto the fire within three minutes of arriving, firefighters then had to wait without water for about five minutes until a Bargersville tanker arrived with a fresh supply. Shelton said the fire hydrant nearest to the fire scene at Olive Branch Road and State Road 135 was frozen, causing tankers to have to go farther to refill.  Firefighters eventually drew water from a pond on the Egenolf property, but only after cutting through a thick layer of surface ice with a chain saw. “We had about 3,000 gallons of water when we arrived on the scene,” Shelton said. “It was just a matter of running out before the fire was knocked down.  “If we’d have had maybe two tankers or a hydrant in the front yard, it would have been almost ideal,” he said.  State Road 135 was closed to all traffic from 5:30 p.m. until about 2 a.m. Sunday because of the fire.  Firefighters from Bargersville, Greenwood, Perry Township, Harrison Township, Bunker Hill, Whiteland and Acton assisted White River.  Bargersville firefighters returned to the Egenlof home about 5:30 p.m. Sunday when some of the debris from the fire began smoldering.  Officials from the State Fire Marshal’s office are investigating the cause of the blaze.  Two of the three mobile home fires also occurred in White River Township. The first destroyed the mobile home of Ricky and Kelly Slone, Lot 22, Sutton’s Mobile Home Court. The fire was reported at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.  The trailer park is just west of State Road 37.  Shelton said the Slones told firefighters they believed the fire started near an electric space heater in the bathroom. The Sheltons were home at the time but escaped with their daughter without injury, the mobile home was completely destroyed in the blaze. The second mobile home fire extensively damaged a residence at Lot 95, Countryview Mobile Home Community in Franklin.  The unit, occupied by Willene Woodall and her family, sustained extensive smoke and heat damage and the rear section was burned out. The fire was reported at 12:47 p.m. Sunday.  The third mobile home fire destroyed a unit in the Wheel Estates South trailer park in White River Township about 5p.m. Sunday.  The residents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Owens, were not at home at the time. Shelton said firefighters believe the fire was caused by an electrical short in an oven.  Edinburgh volunteer firefighters were busy from midnight to dawn today as they responded to four fires.  Firemen went to Columbus at midnight to help Bartholomew County firefighters with a blaze at Behrman’s Moving and Storage warehouse on Marr Street north of Columbus.  The warehouse and its contents of furniture and antiques were destroyed.  Losses have been set at $400,000. Firemen were still at the scene of the fire at 10 am. today dousing hot spots.  About 3 a.m. today firemen were called to 208 N. Kyle St. in Edinburgh where the roof was smoldering at a house owned by Timothy Burton.  A faulty flue from a ‘wood burning stove was blamed for the fire, Edinburgh fire chief James Kelsay said.  Damage to the house was estimated between $5,000 and $10,000.  At 1:30 a.m., Floyd Lamberson awoke to the smell of smoke in his house at 109 N. Main St., Edinburgh.  Lamberson said he had left clothing near a space heater, and believed the clothing fell onto the unit and started the fire.  The interior of the two-story wood house was heavily damaged by fire, smoke and water, Kelsay said.  Damage is estimated at $25,000.  Meanwhile, firemen had been called back to the Burton house on North Kyle Street, where the earlier flue fire had rekindled.  Kelsay said it was the first time in the seven years he has been on the department that Edinburgh firemen were called to two fires at the same time.  Three Edinburgh police officers were slightly injured while helping Edinburgh firemen.  Detective Ron Beier suffered a cut on his hand from a broken window.  Patrolman Elvis Gaskin and special deputy Tom Coleman fell on ice and limped to their cars, police said.  See a related story and photos HERE.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal) 
 
 

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