A flock of goats isn’t sure how to respond as fire rages in the home behind their pasture Tuesday, July 13. Photo by Scott Swanson

A firefighter carries equipment past a burning Chrysler Cirrus, which also was destroyed in the fire. Photo by Scott Swanson

Fire Chief Mike Beaver, left, and an unidentified firefighter stand in front of a blazing mobile home at 1072 Turbyne Road Tuesday evening, July 13. The home and a car parked nearby were a total loss for the owner, Judy Paddock.

Prev Next Enlarge

Fire destroyed the home of Judy Paddock on July 13.

Firefighters responded to the fire at 1072 Turbyne Road at 6:13 p.m.

The fire also destroyed a 1995 Chrysler Cirrus.

With the total loss of the structure, firefighters were unable to determine a cause for the fire.

Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District Battalion Chief Guy Smith said an official investigation was not done because
Paddock did not have insurance and “the roof was falling in on it.” He said officials estimated the loss of the structure, the car and personal property at $50,000.

Paddock said she believed it was an electrical fire that started in the aluminum wiring of the 1973 mobile home.

“I had just finished remodeling the kitchen, ready to open a foster home,” she said. She said she had replaced the old aluminum wiring throughout the home except in one section, the area where the fire started.

She was sitting on the porch talking on the phone, Paddock said, when she heard a popping sound. She went into the house but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

She returned to the porch where she heard a snap, crackle and pop, she said. When she looked back in through the front door, she saw the curtains on fire above a plug that had not been changed out.

Smith said Paddock tried to rescue some valuables but was unable to.

“It took off that fast,” he said, noting that the home was built of 2x2’s that have since been prohibited in construction of mobile homes.

Paddock is staying with her mother, she said. The house was a total loss and was uninsured because of its age.

Family members and neighbors have been helping since the fire, Paddock said. She has plenty of clothing, and neighbors have donated money to help her out.

She has received numerous offers from people to help her clean up the property, she said.

She still has to sit down and figure out where she is financially so she can rebuild or move a new home onto the property, she said.

“I plan to put something there.”

She was about two and a half months from opening the foster home for adults with mental disabilities when the fire started. She is still planning to open a foster home.

She has been an in-home care provider since 1991.