LATE SHIFT

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First responders battle house fire in Madill

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  • Matt Caban • The Madill Record Madill and Kingston firefighters put out a fire Dec. 17 in the 1100 block of West Tishomingo Blvd.
    Matt Caban • The Madill Record Madill and Kingston firefighters put out a fire Dec. 17 in the 1100 block of West Tishomingo Blvd.
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The first responders of Marshall County worked into the night after they responded to a house fire in the 1100 block of West Tishomingo late Tuesday. Both the Madill Fire Department and Kingston Fire Department were on the scene along with members of the Madill Police Department, the Marshall County Sheriffs Office and Marshall County Emergency Management Services.

Chief Dennis Self of the Madill Fire Department said his department had 16 firefighters on site while KFD sent 10 firefighters.

“Kingston is automatic aid with us,” he said. “When we put down a structure fire, Kingston automatically shows up with us. We do the opposite too. When Kingston has a structure fire, we go to them and help each other out.” Self said fire crews received the call at 2213 hours.

“When the [Madill] police was first on scene, they said this back area was fully involved,” Self said. “We got a pretty good knock down on it.”

Smoke continued to pour out of the northeast corner of the room as 11 p.m. approached.

Multiple firefighters had to cut through shingles to get toward the blaze while those stationed at ground level put on their masks and entered the home in shifts.

Self said firefighters cut through a roof to vent it.

“There’s probably six layers of shingles and wood shingles in that back areas,” he said. “We always vent it. It’s so hot in there we had to vent it to get the smoke out so we can get in there and do some work. That’s why we get up there and cut a hole in the roof.”

Self said two residents were at home when the first started. He said the location of the first was pretty evident in this case.

“She had a space heater in that back room keeping stuff in storage,” Self said. “Evidently, something got knocked against it or overloaded the plug. We don’t know. We’ll go in and investigate it after we get everything out.

Self said he expected it to take 45 minutes for his crew to clear out the house, which would keep them on the scene until early Wednesday morning.

Self and members of his team along Donny Raley, emergency manager for the City of Madill, assisted the residents in gathering some of their belongings once it was safe.

“Now, we’ve uh contacted the Red Cross which will come in and help them for the night, two or three nights…help ‘em get back on their feet.”