Fire destroyed a mobile home Friday morning, April 15, in the Green Tree Mobile Home Park.
According to Fire Chief Dave Barringer, the fire was reported at 10:05 a.m. at the park, 3134 Hwy. 20.
A column of smoke was evident as firefighters arrived.
Barringer said it took about an hour and 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze due to the fact that the 1976 single-wide trailer had a roof built over it, so firefighters had to cut through the trailer’s roof to get to the wooden structure.
The occupant, Hobart Thompson, was not injured, Barringer said.
Neighbor Anthony Rose said he heard Thompson yelling “‘Fire, fire!’
“I ran over there and he was coming out of his front door and he’s disabled,” Rose said. “I just grabbed him and pulled him out of there and then I called 911 right after that.”
Barringer said Thompson told investigators he was sitting in a power easy chair that was plugged into the wall behind him. When he started adjusting the chair, sparks and flames shot from the outlet, he told firefighters.
“That’s consistent with what we found in our investigation,” Barringer said.
He said he was thankful the fire didn’t spread.
Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance Service had Engines 21, 22 and 25 respond, a rescue unit, a brush unit and a battalion chief and Barringer’s own rig – a total of 16 people.
“I was really happy with the response,” he said. “That was the middle of the day and we had seven volunteers show up.”