Community Risk

Five Injured in North Dakota Mobile Home Fire

Jan. 17, 2013

Dickinson Fire Chief Bob Sivak said five people were injured during a morning fire at a mobile home in south Dickinson.

Source The Dickinson Press, N.D.

Jan. 17--Dickinson Fire Chief Bob Sivak said five people were injured during a morning fire at a mobile home in south Dickinson on Tuesday.

Sivak said one person was airlifted to a burn center following the blaze, which began in the living room of a residence at 245 4th St. SW and left the home at a complete loss. Sivak said four adults and one child were present inside the home at the time of the fire.

The owner of the home, Gene Praus, confirmed that Corrie Bishop was his tenant on a lease for the home. When reached at St. Joseph's Hospital, Bishop declined to comment. The seriousness of the injuries suffered by those in the home at the time of the fire are unknown.

"The fire is under investigation," Sivak said. "There were several injured people waiting outside the mobile home when we arrived."

Twenty-six firefighters responded to the call, which went out just after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the DFD report. Sivak said firefighters were on scene for about three hours. The North Dakota Highway Patrol and the Stark County Sheriff's Office, among other emergency personnel, also responded to the scene.

Sheri Whitworth, who identified herself as Bishop's former roommate, said a family dog, a chihuahua named Ozzie, perished in the fire, a fact that Sivak confirmed. A man identifying himself as a federal agent was stationed outside the home early Wednesday afternoon.