Fire Damages Monte Ne Home

Family Of Three Survives Mobile Home Fire

MONTE NE — An electrical fire in the Rol-Lynn Hills mobile home park just outside of Rogers displaced a family of three Thursday.

Neighbor Candace Jackson was outside and saw smoke start coming out of the home near a furnace vent. Then the smoke rolled across the length of the mobile home. Jackson called the Fire Department, then 911.

“I smelled it first,” she said. “You could smell the wires burning.”

The fire began near the furnace and was electrical in nature, said Marc Trollinger, Benton County fire marshal.

Firefighters pulled down part of the ceiling to put out the fire and the building had smoke and water damage, Trollinger said.

Electricity in the house was temperamental, residents said. The power went out just before the fire. Summer Henry went to the breaker box to fix the power.

“The electric went off. I flicked it on and it started to spark,” said Summer Henry.

Family members were on the phone with Summer Henry when she hung up without explanation, said sister Brittany Henry. They drove out to check on her and arrived before firefighters.

Residents, neighbors and family members rescued pet mice and clothing from the living room, while Jackson’s fiance, Ken White, hooked up a hose to another neighbor’s water spout and sprayed down the mobile home.

Smoke ringed the ceiling and the crackle was audible inside, they said.

Jackson moved the family minivan away from the home.

“I thought it was going to go,” she said.

The water from the neighbors hose didn’t put out the fire, Trollinger said.

“It may have held it at bay,” he said.

The family estimates the trailer is more than 20 years old, because relatives lived in the same home years ago. The furnace popped when it turned on, Brittany Henry said.

The three people living in the mobile home will stay with family tonight, she said.

Trollinger said he believed the trailer is a loss. Dale Eckert, landlord, said he didn't know the age of the building. The mobile home may be repaired once he evaluates the damage, he said.

“We will have electrical to fix and some major repairs,” he said.

The Beaver Lake, Hickory Creek, Highway 94 and Rogers fire departments responded to the fire.

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