House fire leaves Plains couple hospitalized

A house fire in Plains Sunday night has left a married couple hospitalized.

Gary Bruce, 74, and his wife, Ruthe Elaine Case, 68, were inside their home Sunday night when they heard an explosion. Gary went outside to check and saw flames coming from underneath the home, located on Stageline Ranch Lane, just off Upper Lynch Creek Road.

He grabbed a house and started to douse it with water, but he quickly realized Ruthe, his wife of 45 years, wasn’t outside.

“Dad ran back inside and Mom was nearly passed out before he pulled her out,” said their daughter, Lisa Smith. “They lost everything, the only thing that was saved was a laptop computer.”

Smith said both are expected to recover from their injuries.

Case is in the burn unit at Haborview Medical Center in Seattle. She has second degree burns on 7% of her body and suffered from smoke inhalation.

“She was conscious when they brought them to the hospital (Clark Fork Valley Hospital), which was good, and the doctors at Harborview say she is stable, but she is intubated and sedated.

“They are going to assess her condition Tuesday,” Smith said.

According to Smith, Bruce was in stable condition at Clark Fork. He had suffered a few, small burns and smoke inhalation, but Smith said she expected her dad would be able to leave the hospital Tuesday.

Smith said she is grateful her parents are alive, but the incident has brought back some painful feelings.

“It’s bad enough it happened on Mother’s Day, but it was nearly on the 23rd anniversary of the death of my oldest sister (May 15) and all of her stuff that they had saved was in the house and now it’s all gone,” Smith said.

Smith said her sister suffered from aplastic anemia and died when she was just 24 years old.

The couple also lost a dog in the blaze and possibly two cats.

Two vehicles were also completely destroyed in the fire.

“They don’t have anything, no wallets, no birth certificates, no clothes, so we’re hoping to get them some help,” Smith said.

Smith, 33, lives in Missoula and started a GoFundMe page https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-gary-bruce-amp-ruthe-elaine-case?pc=fb_co_campmgmtbnr_w&rcid=r01-158922925247-6bfcd0e5000746ce&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_lico%2Bbanner&fbclid=IwAR3TLfkNQtHwUp-vvsiIaSjNv4Rosc7a88XeGTfMrydkQzSomiIo16tcwbs.

“I am handling all of their affairs and coordinating donations to help with immediate needs such as clothes, cell phone, gas, toiletries, etc.,” Smith wrote. “We have secured a short-term living situation and will explore long-term living situations soon. I will post updates regarding their condition on this page.”

Smith hopes to raise $5,000 to help with costs not covered by insurance. As of Monday night, donors had pledged $1,800.

The couple had a mortgage on the home they moved into it in 2006 or 2007 and it was fully insured. They are both on Social Security, according to Smith.

Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District Chief James Russell said the cause of the fire was undertermined and still under investigation.

“The call came in at 9:30 p.m. and we were there until 3 a.m.,” Russell said. “We went back at 8 this morning and we’re still keeping an eye on it because there were some hot spots and a bit of fire we couldn’t get to because of how the structure was made.”

Russell was thankful for the response of the Plains City Volunteer Fire Department, Thompson Falls Rural Fire Department and Plains Community Ambulance.

“We appreciate the help we always get when something like this happens,” Russell said.

About 15 firefighters poured 24,000 gallons of water on the inferno. None were injured in the course of their work.

“It’s very devastating, but I’m thankful they are both still alive,” Smith said.