Fourth house fire in Plains in five weeks

Melissa Oyer

Valley Press

Fire broke out at the home of Spud Crystal Thursday morning. Fire crews from the Plains Volunteer Fire Department, Plains-Paradise Rural Fire Department and several rescue vehicles along with an ambulance all were on the scene within 9 minutes.

Firefighters began working on the blaze at 8:47 a.m. and within minutes, had a quick-spreading fire under control. The fire had spread to surrounding grassy areas and the adjacent lawn where piles of rubbish were on fire.

Lee Mercier, PPRFD assistant fire chief was the first crew member to fight the blaze. But as he was fumbling with a faulty nozzle, an overhead power line caught fire and showers of blue and green sparks began to fall over Mercier’s head. Everyone was screaming for him to get out of the way, but with the massive roar of the fire along with layers of protective gear, Mercier had trouble hearing.

A last-minute push from a fellow fireman moved Mercier out of the way, and his life, according to most people who witnessed what had just happened, was spared.

Without hesitation, Mercier returned immediately to spraying the fire on Crystal’s trailer and encouraged others to do the same.

At 9:07 a worker from Northwestern Energy arrived and cut the power to the burning trailer to prevent any other potentially hazardous incidents from occurring.

Crews worked strenuously for over an hour to extinguish the fire and it took several members inside the house to ensure that the blaze was under control. Firefighters managed to find an unconscious cat in the burning house, which had originally belonged to Crystal’s neighbor but. Mercier administered CPR on the cat but was unable to resuscitate it.

Cleanup crews also found Crystal’s dog Hanson in a closet upon re-entering the burned trailer. It too had passed away from smoke inhalation. There is also a cat still missing. Gimpy, a black, 3-legged cat has not been seen since the fire.

The local chapters of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army arrived and assisted Crystal by giving him clothes and provided him lodging in a hotel room.

When talking to Plains residents, everyone agreed that Crystal was a great neighbor, pleasant man and all-around nice guy.

Fire investigators will return to the scene to conduct further investigation to determine the cause.