April 08--As Logan Fahnhorst ran up the stairs to let his roommates know their home was on fire, the flames followed behind him.
"When (my roommate) looked down the steps, he said the fire was like chasing me," said Fahnhorst, who lives on the third floor of the house that was destroyed by fire Saturday morning.
At 2:45 a.m. Saturday, Aberdeen Fire and Rescue units responded to a house fire at 108 Ninth Ave. S.E. Firefighters who arrived on scene were able to contain the fire within 20 minutes, said J.R. Huebner, battalion chief for the fire department.
All six people, who were in the home when the fire started, were able to leave the home without any serious injuries. The fire started on the porch, said Aberdeen Fire Marshall Mike Thompson. He added that the situation could have been a lot worse.
"There was one that had had some (alcohol) that evening but the other four hadn't, partly because they had football practice Saturday morning," Thompson said. "Had they been impaired, it could've been a different story. We could've had ourselves four to five fatalities."
For Fahnhorst, finding the fire and escaping the house seemed to happen in 30 seconds.
He was getting ready for bed when he heard someone yelling downstairs. A friend who was going to sleep on the couch downstairs was yelling his name and he thought someone was breaking into the home.
He saw the friend standing by the door that opened into the hallway to the front door, he said.
"By the time I opened it, the whole thing was on fire," he said. The flames blew into his face, burning parts of his nose, he said.
He immediately told the friend to get out before sprinting up the stairs to warn his three other roommates. The home was rented by six current or former Northern State University football players.
One word Fahnhorst used to describe his state of mind as he rushed away from the fire: panic.
"I'm sure my screams sounded panicked," said Fahnhorst. Yet Fahnhorst's screams were what let his four roommates know there was a fire engulfing the house.
The first roommate he found was Apollo Ford. The two stepped into Ford's bedroom and Fahnhorst kicked through the bedroom window, which led to the home's kitchen roof.
"I don't know if I could've slid it open, I just put my foot through it right away," Fahnhorst said. "We had to get to the roof right out there and I was just trying to get out as fast as possible."
After making sure Ford was on the roof, Fahn-horst went to find a second roommate, Zac Emde, and rush him out the path he cleared. Fahn-horst followed out the window and found a third roommate, Trevor Mau, had escaped out of his own bedroom window, Fahnhorst said.
A fourth roommate who lived on the main floor of the home also evacuated the home,
Fahnhorst said.
The group that escaped through the second-floor windows stood on the roof of the kitchen for a few moments before realizing how quickly the fire was growing, Fahnhorst said. They were able to get off the roof with the aid of bystanders on the ground.
Fahnhorst said he drove himself to the hospital for minor burn treatment on his face and got stitches for a cut on his foot.
Officers with the Aberdeen Police Department arrested Isaiah Barse, 21, of Aberdeen on an accusation that he set fire to the house. Barse is in custody at the Brown County Jail.
Though charges against Barse are pending, arson charges are likely and other charges could be forthcoming, said Aberdeen Police Capt. Dave McNeil, of the police department.
The specific charges against Barse will be decided today after being reviewed by the Brown County state's attorney's office, said Brown County State's Attorney Larry Lovrien.
As for the residents of the home, they found temporary beds with family and friends.
"We all feel really lucky," said Fahnhorst. "We all lost a lot of stuff, but we're all just thankful we all got out."
Copyright 2013 - American News, Aberdeen, S.D.
