Jackson home burns in Saturday night fire

 

Lynn L. Martin

Alva firefighters string hose into the Jackson home at 1329 Choctaw Saturday night. The fire was discovered just before midnight. The three occupants excaped without injury.

Saturday morning, Kevin and Shelly Jackson celebrated the eighth-grade promotion of daughter Haley at the Alva High School Auditorium. However, after that happy start the day ended with near tragedy.

According to Deanna Jackson, Kevin's mother, Haley awoke just before midnight to find a haze in her bedroom. When she got up to investigate, she saw flames and roused her parents. They quickly got out of the house and called for help.

The Alva Fire Department received the call at 11:55 p.m. and arrived at 1329 Choctaw five minutes later. Fire Chief Kirk Trekell says there was a large amount of fire centered at the front door of the house. Firefighters made a successful initial application of water to douse the flames and checked out the lower level where it appears the fire started.

Marione Martin

The exact cause of the Saturday night fire at the Kevin Jackson residence in Alva is undetermined. There was heavy smoke damage throughout the home.

Trekell said the Jacksons narrowly escaped. Just a minute or two could have made all the difference. The contents suffered heavy smoke damage. Trekell said the design of the home is fairly open, which allowed the smoke to penetrate the entire house. He said the fire appeared accidental in nature but the exact cause was still undetermined.

The fire chief was very pleased with the way his department quickly brought the fire under control. He said they spend quite a bit of time training and it showed. They operated like "a fine oiled machine," he commented. The firefighters cleared the location at 1:44 a.m.

The family members were impressed that the firefighters inquired about pets and brought their dog safely outside. They were also asked about cellphones and those were recovered unharmed.

Although they found themselves homeless, the Jacksons were able to move into another family residence in Alva. The home of Enos (Bud) Ridgway, Kevin's grandfather, has been vacant since his death in 2014. The utilities were still on, and the family was able to move in immediately.

 

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