Neighbor Alerts Sleeping Mo. Family to Thankgiving Fire

Nov. 29, 2013
The man broke out a window and hollered to wake the four people sleeping inside the burning St. Joseph home.

Nov. 28--Billy Ashford just happened to be up Thanksgiving morning.

He happened to notice what looked like beautiful colored lights bouncing off his kitchen wall at 1310 Prospect Ave. Then he looked outside. Mr. Ashford saw that the front of his longtime neighbor Clayton Mace's home was engulfed in flames.

"I ran outside and broke out a window on the north side," Mr. Ashford said. "I think it was the boys' room. Anyway I started hollering for them to all wake up and get out now."

Mr. Mace was asleep in the front bedroom and said he wasn't sure why he woke up, but he heard popping noises on the front porch and then he realized there was a fire.

Mr. Ashford went back to his home and got a bucket, turned on a spigot and proceeded to wet down the lawn between the two homes.

"I was worried it would spread to our house," he said.

Four of the six members of the Mace family were at home Thanksgiving morning at 1308 Prospect Ave. All got out safely.

Engine 12 was first on the scene and found the entire front of the one-story frame structure engulfed in flames, said John McVicker Jr., an acting battalion chief for the St. Joseph Fire Department.

"I think the Christmas lights on the front porch started the fire," Mr. Mace said.

Firemen ran a water line between the two houses and began flooding the entire north side of the house. The goal was to keep the fire from spreading next door, McVicker said.

"One of the complications we encountered was the intense amount of smoke pouring out of the front of the home," he said.

A fireman cut a hole in the roof to allow smoke an easier egress from the home.

That allowed another crew to enter the home and begin battling the blaze, Mr. McVicker said.

Fireman William Martinez climbed a ladder and got on the front porch roof with an ax to open another access to the attic. Meanwhile firemen ran another water line up to the front porch, hosing it down as Mr. Martinez worked overhead.

While the entire home suffered from smoke damage, firemen were able to keep the flames from eating the west half of the home.

After a second check to ensure no one remained in the home, firemen also started to salvage what they could for the homeowner.

The fire started shortly after midnight and was out at 1:40 a.m., but the investigation hasn't identified any cause yet, said Bob Blizzard, a fire inspector.

The Midland Empire Chapter of the Red Cross has been called to assist the victims.

Marshall White can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @SJNPWhite.

Copyright 2013 - St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.

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