Fires destroy two homes in eastern Marion County

Fire destroyed homes in Lincolnville at 209 Lombard Sunday and in the city of Marion at 503 S. Cedar Thursday.

The preliminary ruling for both fires was undetermined but considered accidental and could have been caused by faulty wiring in the ceiling area.

The owner of the Lincolnville house is Greg Holub, but he was renting it to Sabrina Carson, said Fire Chief Lester Kaiser of Lincolnville.

Kaiser said the initial notification was a 911 call to Marion County dispatch before 8 p.m. Sunday, but once firefighters arrived, the house was fully involved.

?The fire was already in the ceiling and roof,? he said, which meant that firefighters went into defensive mode to protect neighboring structures.

With the house considered a total loss at that point, Kaiser said the next priority was to keep the blaze from Darlene Hubbard?s home 12 feet away.

Assisting at the scene, he said, was mutual aid help from the Marion, Canton, Ramona and Lost Springs fire departments.

In extinguishing the blaze, firefighters got their water supply from an underground tank at Centre High School, he added.

He also wanted to thank Barry Montgomery, Joe Vinduska, David Kaiser, Andre Ebaben, Steven Svoboda, Jim Horinek, Norma Horinek, Jacob Horinek, Justin Morrison, Pat Combs, Jackie Gage Sr., Jackie Gage Jr. and Eugene Remmers who were at the scene.

Hubbard said after she called 911 for help, she did what she could until firefighters arrived by using a water hose to keep the fire contained to her neighbor?s house.

?It looked like it started in the kitchen,? she said, ?I was just scared that someone might still be in the house.?

As it turned out, Carson, and the other two people living in the house?her brother, Brandon Albright and her 4-year-old daughter?were in Wichita that day.

The family pet, a Pomeran?ian, wasn?t as lucky, Hubbard said.

After learning there were no people in the house, she and others tried to rescue the little dog.

They could see him in the hallway, but when they tried coaxing him to come out, she said, the dog, possibly confused by smoke and heat, ran the opposite way further back in the house.

Kaiser said he believes the animal may have perished in the blaze.

Although the owners of the house have insurance, Carson, her daughter and Albright did not have renter?s insurance.

According to Hubbard, everything was destroyed in the fire.

Officials with the American Red Cross did come out and offer assistance, but the family has no clothing, furniture or other basic supplies.

One source said Carson is the clerk for the city of Lincolnville and if anyone would like to offer clothes or other necessities, they can call that office at 620-924-5208.

In Marion, owners Lisa and Bill Anderson lived in their house on South Cedar for more than 13 years before losing it to a fire that started about noon Thursday.

Similar to the Lincolnville fire, no one was home when the fire broke out, but unlike what happened in Lincolnville, the Anderson?s dog, Ace, was outside and he did survive.

The Andersons also had insurance and while that won?t replace memories, family members were grateful there were no injuries.

Joy Wildin, Lisa?s mother, lives across the street, but was not in town when the fire occurred.

In addition to her daughter and husband in the home, 16-year-old son Tyler and daughter Stephanie, 23, were also living there.

Wildin said so many people have helped her daughter and her family with necessities and they are staying at a temporary home.

Firefighters from Marion, Hillsboro and Florence took almost eight hours to put out the fire.

Police Chief Josh Whitwell said the community rallied to do whatever they could in fighting the fire or helping the family.

No other details were available at press time regarding the final determination of the cause for both fires or updates from Marion Fire Chief Mike Regnier.

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