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| From this . . . |
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| to this within 3 seconds. |
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| Smoke was allowed to escape by breaking windows. |
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| Ladder truck is ready. |
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| Snakes carried to safety. |
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| One of two puppies held by neighbor. |
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 -
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A 40-year-old Johnson County woman and her three teenage children are homeless after fire broke out in their Clary Crossing apartment near Ind. 135 and Stones Crossing Road.
A neighbor smelled smoke in her apartment about 6 p.m. Wednesday and Bargersville Community Fire Department was dispatched to 3156 Clary Crossing.
Arriving firefighters found the doors and windows to the ground-level apartment warm to the touch.
As firefighters evacuated seven other apartments in the building, another team forced their way into the burning unit through the front door.
Heavy black smoke quickly filled the common entryway as firefighters crawled through the apartment searching for possible victims.
Two puppies were found in a cage and taken outside. The animals recovered quickly in the fresh air and were then held in the arms of neighbors for more than an hour.
BCFD firefigters stopped the blaze from moving into other areas of the building. The fire was contained to the apartment.
As smoke was clearing from the apartment, a neighbor asked about pet snakes the family owned. Firefighters found them in a glass container and carried them outside, too.
White River Township firefighters assisted at the scene.
The apartment resident, Anita Treloar, arrived 30 minutes into firefighting effort and was overcome by grief. She was examined by Rural/Metro Ambulance personnel.
Treloar said her children were away from home and expected to return next week. She was extremely concerned about the Christmas gifts she had purchased. While the blaze did not reach the area where the gifts were stored, they could have been contaminated with heavy soot.
“Everything in there was covered by the heavy smoke residue and I don’t know if the clothing and gifts can be cleaned,” BCFD Battalion Chief Rod Hayes said.
Bluff Creek Christian Church, 6287 W. County Road 144, volunteered to accept donations for Treloar and her sons, ages 10 and 14 as well as her 16-year-old daughter.
The extent of the damage was not immediately determined. However, Treloar’s residence was heavily damaged.
The Red Cross was contacted and provided temporary housing for Treloar.
Firefighters checked the building’s other apartments and allowed residents to return to the homes about 90 minutes later.
“Had that neighbor not reported the smoke in her apartment, we could have had a really heavy loss there,” said Battalion Chief Rod Hayes. “It was just a matter of minutes before it could have gotten really bad.”
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