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Justin Allen of Eden and his dog Jake, are pictured on the front deck of the trailer home that caught fire due to a lightning strike and burned last week Wednesday. The home was destroyed but nobody was hurt.
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Smoke alarms and his barking dog awoke Justin Allen early Wednesday morning just in the nick of time.
When he awoke about 3 a.m. the trailer on the north side of Eden was already filled with smoke, and when he tried to make his way to the front door he discovered the living room ceiling and walls were ablaze and the heat was intense.
"I couldn't get out the front door and most of the windows had been boarded up to help insulate during the winter," said Allen. "But there was one hallway window that was open and I was able to crawl out that window."
Allen was then able to call 911 on his cell phone and the Eden Fire Department was on the scene in less than five minutes. But when firemen arrived the mobile home was already engulfed in flames, spurred on by strong winds.
"When we got there we were able to douse it down and the fire didn't go much farther," said Eden Fire Chief Dan Michlitsch. "But when we arrived you couldn't even touch the doors because they were so hot. If those smoke alarms hadn't gone off, Justin would have been toast. There's no doubt about it. It was that close. He was very lucky."
Allen's black lab, Jake, was being hailed as a hero following the fire. His dog house was located on a deck on the front of the mobile home, and he continued barking until his master managed to get out of the burning home.
"I know Jake knew I was in there, and he kept barking trying to wake me up," explained Allen. "The hair on his side was singed from the fire."
As Allen gave his dog a pat on the side Friday morning the dog still reacted with some pain. Also on that deck, right next to the dog house, was a pool of plastic that had once been a deck chair, evidence of the intense heat of the fire.
A neighbor saw lightning strike a power pole near the Allen home, and that is what is thought to have started the blaze. Michlitsch said lighting struck three or four different places in Eden that morning, hitting another power pole and some trees.
"It was kind of ugly out there for awhile," added Michlitsch.
Allen said he had recently dropped his homeowners insurance policy and all that he was able to save from the home was a couple of guns. The biggest loss was furniture and electronics which he estimated at around $10,000.
Allen expressed thank to members of the community for their outpouring of support following the fire.
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©Marshall County Journal 2009
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