Faribault Family Narrowly Escapes House Fire, Loses Everything
FARIBAULT, Minn. (WCCO) -- A charred and smoke-filled stairwell became merely a useless exit. Without a clear escape, Saturday's house fire trapped a couple and four children in the second floor apartment.
"All of the sudden, we heard a beeping noise which we thought was a toy," Kathryn Watson said.
What they thought was their children playing with a toy in the bedroom turned out to be a blaring smoke alarm downstairs. That's when Matt Dahl opened the door leading downstairs and quickly realized the house was filling with a putrid smelling smoke.
"Impossible, they would not have made it down there," Faribault Fire Chief Dustin Dienst said, recalling the stairwell.
That's when Dahl soon gathered his fiancé, their two children and two of their daughter's friends and decided an upstairs window was their only way out.
"I got the window open and got everyone as close to the window as they could, and smoke began filling up immediately," Dahl said.
For Dahl and Watson there was no time to grab any of their belongings.
"The one thing people don't realize is that when there's a fire, how quickly it spreads," Watson said.
Not children's toys, clothes or precious belongings. Including their children's blankets and collections of books. Yet, while the family appears to have lost everything material, they escaped with everything that matters – each other.
"It was a tragic thing but there were blessings in place that made sure we made it out OK," Dahl said.
Since Saturday's fire, the family has been staying in temporary housing while they try to figure out their next move. Incidentally, Watson is also scheduled for gallbladder Thursday and has taken a temporary leave from her job as a certified nursing assistant at a local nursing home.
Assessing how fortunate the family is to have escaped alive, Chief Dienst wants to remind everyone how even small fires can quickly turn deadly.
"It doesn't have to be the big fire we see on TV that causes the problem," he said. "A small fire in the wrong spot can be a big ordeal for someone."
He credits an escape plan and working smoke alarm for saving six lives.
"If those wouldn't have been there, I mean you never know," Watson said.
If you would like to help the family, a GoFundMe page has been set up for donations.
