Three homeless after Friday night fire guts home

JOHNSON LANE - Three men and their dog, Bruno, were left homeless when their house on Stephanie Way was destroyed by fire late Friday night.

The trio was sleeping at about 11:30 p.m. when one of them awoke to a smoke-filled house. An unidentified resident said he roused the others and they tried to put out the flames using a fire extinguisher and by trying to smother the fire. The fire, that he said began around the wood stove in the living room, grew too quickly and the three men fled barefoot, dressed only in their bathrobes and pajamas, into the snow-and-ice-covered front yard while Bruno roamed in circles shaking with fear.

Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal, with the East Fork Fire District, Steve Eisele said early indications were that the fire was caused by a wood stove problem.

One man was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation. Another for second-degree burns on his feet.

Neighbors brought them juice, hot chocolate, clothes, found them a motel room and offered to care for Bruno while the firefighters extinguished the blaze. At 1:30 a.m. Saturday steam and smoke could still be seen billowing from the structure.

All that remained Saturday of the three-bedroom home near the intersection of Stephanie and Wildhorse was its charred skeleton.

The American Red Cross was called in to assist the fire victims. East Fork Fire and Paramedic districts and Johnson Lane Fire District responded to the incident.

Kelli Du Fresne is city editor for the Nevada Appeal. Contact her at kdufresne@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1261.