Dec. 17--TOWN OF SHELBY -- Al Leske credits his daughter and granddaughter with saving his life from a blaze that destroyed his home Saturday night.
The fire, which started at N1313 Leske Road shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday and kept firefighters from five departments at the scene until 8 a.m. Sunday, was particularly stubborn because a large quantity of firewood in the basement fueled the flames, said Shelby Fire Chief Mike Kemp.
Leske, 74, said everything was OK when he put wood in the basement furnace at about 10:30 p.m.
"I was sitting there watching TV, and the smoke alarm went off, and there was all this smoke coming up," he said.
His daughter Joan Leske, who lives with him, "came tearing out wondering what was wrong, and we got out.
"My daughter finally wrassled me out of the house, and I sat down outside," said Leske, who uses a walker.
Joan, 53, ran next door to tell her daughter, Mariah Strong, to call the fire department.
"Mom came bailing in at about 11 and yelled that the house was on fire," Strong said.
Strong and her mother then ran back down a short hill to help Al.
"My daughter and my granddaughter carried me up the hill" to Strong's house, where he and Joan stayed while firefighters tried to control the blaze, he said.
"My daughter and my granddaughter definitely saved my life," said Leske, who was a volunteer with the Shelby Fire Department for 43 years.
Firefighters eventually told them to evacuate out of concern that the fire might spread to that house, too, Kemp said.
The family members stayed with relatives overnight. One of their two dogs, Smokey Joe, perished in the blaze, while another dog, Cookie, escaped.
Leske said he went to the Mayo Clinic Health System-La Crosse, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and burning eyes.
"I'm doing OK now," he said Sunday afternoon. "They took care of the smoke inhalation, but my eyes are still burning."
He remained shaken about losing everything in the three-bedroom house he had built on the family farm in 1965. The fire also destroyed a Ford F250 and a Ford Windstar in the garage.
Despite the loss, Strong said, "We're in a counting blessings mode: People got out. We've got our family geneaology. And nobody had bought Christmas gifts yet."
Al is staying with a son, Mark, in West Salem, while Joan is staying with Strong.
Kemp said the cause has not been determined, and the investigation will continue.
"Nothing is nailed down, but it's probably going to be related to wood burning," he said. "The wood burner looked intact, though."
Almost 35 firefighters were at the scene, with departments from Campbell, Coon Valley, Onalaska and Stoddard also responding, Kemp said. Brice Prairie firefighters were on call to cover the other departments during the blaze, he said.
Copyright 2012 - La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
