BY George Petrena, Correspondent

The home of a Ranchettes Volunteer Fireman suffered fire damage early Thursday evening. Mike Herko came out of the shower to a living room filled with smoke. He said, “The room was filled with smoke and I had a set of horns above the fireplace that fell.”



According to Herko there had been a fire going in the fireplace, and the fire was in the wall on the right side of the fireplace. He got busy with a water hose and put some water on the fire. Paul Mandeville was the first volunteer fireman to arrive from 3-Rivers Fire Department. Working with Mandeville was R.P. Tyndal. Mandeville said, “Jeff Kelley stopped by right after I got here, and he helped fight the fire too. Then Ranchettes Volunteer Fire Departments stations 43 and 63 arrived, with Chief Booty Terry, and volunteers Jake Brooks, Terry Burgess, and Brian Lumbert.

Herko said, “Only the living room was messed up. The roof had separate firewalls and the bedrooms weren’t touched. The bathroom is fine, and the kitchen is good. I feel fortunate that this didn’t happen last night. The fireplace was going all day yesterday and all night last night.” The fire started around 7:30 p.m.



The Herko home is located at 2769 264th. Street, west of Hwy-l37. According to Herko, the home is insured.



The Fire Marshall’s office was contacted to investigate the cause of the fire which is a standard procedure in house fires.