South Fork fire

Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District firefighters, above, work to extinguish a blaze in a mobile home in space 25 at South Fork Trailer Park on Wednesday, June 18. The fire was reported at 10:22 a.m. and apparently started when a kithen stove burner may have been left on and melted a nearby container of parmesan cheese, Chief Mike Beaver said. The occupants, Laurie Girtman and her daughter Kirsten, were moving in and had left to get another load of their belongings when the blaze occurred, neighbors said. Beaver said that firefighters found 10 dead dogs and cats, one snake and several fish. They found a mother dog and six pups, and two cats still alive inside, which were still alive later in the day after receiving some oxygen, Beaver said. At right, Joy Clayborn administers oxygen to one of the cats. Beaver said Laurie Girtman took the animals to a veterinarian later in the day. He estimated damage, mostly from smoke, at $2,000 to the trailer and $4,000 to the contents. “They had almost everything they owned in there,” he said. Residents noted it was the second trailer fire in the park in the last year.