By Ben Fitch
Emporia Gazette – December 13, 2013
One individual was still trying to escape a fire on 1010 West St. as firefighters responded Thursday.
The fire was one of two structure fires that occurred consecutively.
Zaverio Torres, 16, was washing dishes and heard a loud popping sound. As the fire began to consume the first floor of the two-story residence, he broke out a window on the first floor and escaped on his own as firefighters were still responding to the scene.
That portion of the house is occupied by Rhiannon Torres and her three children. Torres is one of the owners of MR Sisters Sweets. The family’s Christmas gifts and other belongings were all lost to the fire. Torres does not have renters insurance, according to family members.
Freddy’s Frozen Custard will donate 15 percent of their proceeds from Monday’s sales to the family to recover belongings lost in the fire.
The response time of Emporia firefighters was compromised by a couple of factors.
Fire Chief Jack Taylor said when the call for the fire came in, the department already had units on a grass fire on Interstate 35, as well as other units at a training session at the Flint Hills Technical College.
“When I arrived on scene, the north exterior was heavily involved in fire, and it was traveling up both stories and into windows on the second floor,” Taylor said. “We knew we had an exterior fire and likely an interior fire as well.”
Because of the way the house was constructed, there is no fire stop in the walls from one floor to the next. There’s a natural chimney that goes up to the attic that way.
Firefighters found fire in the basement, first floor, second floor and attic upon entry. The house was split up into at least two dwellings, or separate apartments, which also posed a problem for firefighters in gaining access to all areas of the house.
Several of the occupants of the house reported hearing a popping noise before the blaze started.
They were able to get ahead of it before long, however, and were searching for hotspots as another call came in for a blaze on 2572 Road P.
The second structure fire was reported at 2:29 p.m. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office along with the Reading Fire Department, District 2 Fire Department (Allen and Admire) and the Miller Fire Department responded to a two-story house fire in rural Lyon County.
The homeowner, Wayne McMurphy, 48, lives with his daughter, Ashley McMurphy, 25, at the residence, said Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Welsh in an interview at the scene Thursday. They smelled an electrical odor while on the first floor, and they also saw that the lights were flickering.
“Wayne went upstairs and saw the smoke and the fire upstairs, and (they) then got out of the house,” Welsh said.
No injuries were reported.
When deputies arrived at the scene, there was smoke and flames coming out of the upstairs windows, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Smoke spread throughout the house. The area firefighters mainly isolated the flames to the second floor. The eastern roof behind the house caved in.
Lyon-Coffey Electric Cooperative Inc. also arrived at the residence to shut off the power.
Emergency responders cleared the scene around 6:47 p.m.
The investigation into the fire continues, and the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to the press release.
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