Castle West Survivor Loses Home To Fire Again

COLORADO SPRINGS – The family of a house heavily damaged by fireWednesday afternoon also lost their home in the January 2007 Castle West Apartments fire, a relative says.

An unidentified babysitter was watching Hailey Stahl, 5 and Jacob Stahl,2 when the fire broke outaround 12:20 p.m. at 2014 Monteagle Street. All three escaped safely, however one dog died and the other was missing. Reports are the fire started on or near the patio and quickly spread.

Cheryl Cook of Security, the children’s grandmother,came to pick up her grandkids after crews got the flames under control. She explained to NEWSCHANNEL 13 how the children’s parents, Joe and Lacey Stahl, lost everything they owned in the CastleWest fire. About six months later, the family moved into the Monteagle house. Now, just a year later, the Stahls are without a home again.

“They’re basically in shock,” Cook said of the family. “(Lacey) is waiting for her husband to get here. I think that’s when she’s really going to fall apart.” Describing their Castle West experience, Cook said: “My grandchildren were thrown from the third floor, through the smoke and fire. They couldn’t see. People caught them in baby blankets.” Cook says she’s so worried about how the family has been traumatized by the two fires that she may seek counseling for them.

Crews had the fire under control in less than two hours. However, once the flames engulfed the house, it became very unstable, causing the part of theroof to cave in–which forced firefighters to battle the blazefrom outside and not inside. “Rather than put crews on the roof to cut a hole for ventilation, we had a piercing nozzle,” explained Lt. Brian Keys of the Colorado Springs Fire Department. “We pierced the side of the attic space to push water in. Much safer operation.”

Investigators have not yet been able to determine a cause. The family has renter’s insurance.

The Castle West fire was one of the worst structure fires in Colorado Springs history. The trial of Derrick Johnson–the man accused of starting the fire to get even withthe mother of his child–Derrick Johnson, is set to beginin October. Two people were killed in the blaze and hundreds others were left homeless.