Smoke alarm saves family in Sunday morning fire

Monday, January 11, 2010

Editor's Note: A correction has been made in the fifth paragraph of this story.


The residence of Mike and Rebecca Rhodes, 1802 S. Margrave, was destroyed in a fire Sunday morning. A preliminary investigation by the Fort Scott Fire Department indicated an electical malfunction caused the fire but the case is still under investigation. Arson is not a suspected cause. (Submitted photo)

The smoke alarm in the home of Mike and Rebecca Rhodes could possibly be what saved the lives of Mike and their 13-year-old daughter Sunday morning.

At approximately 4 a.m. Sunday, Mike and his daughter were sleeping in their home on Margrave Street when their smoke alarm woke them up. According to Rebecca, Mike opened the bedroom door to find the dinning room filled with smoke. He then grabbed their daughter out of her room and told her to get outside. He then proceeded to get their dogs out of the house. Rebecca was not home at the time; she heard of the fire while at work as a dispatcher at the Hawkins Public Safety Facility.

"Thankfully the smoke alarm went off and Mike woke up," Rebecca said. "If that smoke alarm didn't go off, I don't think he would have got out in time ... He is a real hero, he saved my entire family."

Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou said the firefighters working the fire were able to extinguish the blaze but had to deal with the cold to do it. He said some of the firefighters had to deal with ice outside the structure as they were trying to control the fire. Once the fire was under control the firefighters were able to remove the Rhodes' pet turtle from the house.

While the firefighters were extinguishing the fire, the Rhodes' neighbor, Norman Nation, opened his home to the family to stay warm. Rebecca said he offered them money from his church and pick up anything they needed.

"He was a real godsend there," she said. "He opened up his home to us; he was really generous."

Rebecca said the dogs are currently in the care of Dr. Yolanda Gray, however she doesn't want to leave them there very long.

"We need to find a home were we can take care of our animals," Rebecca said. "My first thought is to find some place to live where we can have our animals in a fenced yard."

The Rhodes did have insurance on the home and are waiting to hear back on what can be salvaged from the fire. Rebecca said the attic and their daughter's room was destroyed however the exterior walls of the home are still standing.

"(Their daughter's room) is just a big black soot mess, you can't even recognize anything in there," she said.

Preliminary investigations suggest the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction. Ballou said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, however they do not suspect arson.