UPDATE: House fire erupts in Falcon
A family in Falcon couldn’t return home Sunday night after a fire tore through the attic.
The Falcon Fire Department was dispatched to the 8100 block of Postrock Drive around 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Neighbors reported a fire had started in or around a garbage can and couch sitting next to the house. The fire quickly spread to the attic.
The family of five and three dogs got out of the house and were not hurt. Investigators have not cited an official cause of the fire.
The family couldn’t stay in the home Sunday night because part of the roof caved in, and there was extensive smoke and water damage from the fire fight.
Alex Rodriguez rents the home with his family. He said he was grateful his neighbors acted fast, grabbing anything they could to fight the flames and alert the family inside.
“They came out, buckets, hoses, cups, you name it,” Rodriguez said. “They were trying to help in any way you can. Some people I had never seen in my life, they were helping.”
Rodriguez’s neighbor, Dennis Williams, was the first person to try to extinguish the fire. He was outside washing his car when he looked up at the home and saw flames.
“(I) ran over, grabbed the hose, neighbors came from the other side, came out and started helping try to put the fire out,” Williams said. “At that point, I ran up to the house, rang the doorbell, started screaming and yelling. I ran over had my wife – call 911 – and went back to fight the fire and stayed there until the fire department came.”
Bernard Williams saw smoke as he was driving into the neighborhood. He pulled over and asked if there were people inside. He decided to go in with another neighbor to make sure the home was clear. Williams said he found comfort in seeing his neighbors pull together during a difficult time.
“When I think about it, I kind of get emotional about it because I am ex-military,” said Williams.
Sherry Thiel had also just arrived home when she saw the smoke. She grabbed a fire extinguisher from inside her home and added her hose to the fire fight.
“At one point, we all did think we got it contained, but then it sort of seemed to go up and then the flames started going everywhere,” said Thiel.
Rodriguez said his neighbors helped to save at least some of his home.
“We probably would have lost everything,” he said.
Rodriguez said he hopes he’ll have an opportunity to thank every person who tried to put out the fire.
