Wow, they're blaming a wood stove for this tragic fire.

[velvetfoot]

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=757008&category=STATE

Four brothers among dead in fire
Wood stove suspected cause of fire in Tug Hill area of Oswego County

By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, January 6, 2009

RICHLAND — Eight people — including four young brothers and their mother — were killed in a fast-moving house fire despite the frenzied efforts of a firefighter-in-training who had to be restrained from rushing back into his burning home.
"He wanted to go back in ... It took four guys to stop him. They finally had to put him in handcuffs and put him in a patrol car," neighbor James Riordan said of Anthony DeRoose, 42, who owned the home and was the lone survivor.

"I can't imagine what it's like to see a family dying right in front of you," Riordan said Monday.

Robin Dillenbeck, 26, was killed along with her four sons aged 10 years, 6 years, 20 months and 6 months. Also killed was Dillenbeck's 19-year-old boyfriend, Dale Lance Jr., who was father of the two toddlers, Dayton and Dante.

Killed along with the family of six were Lance's mother, Michelle Lance, 41 and her boyfriend, David Muir, 33.

The fire broke out around 3 a.m. Sunday inside the two-story wood home in the rural town of Richland, 37 miles north of Syracuse. The rustic hamlet of 400 sits on the Tug Hill Plateau, a haven for snowmobilers that gets more than 300 inches of snow each year. Many residents use wood stoves.

Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said Monday investigators were looking at the possibility the fire was touched off by a wood stove.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

"Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said Monday investigators were looking at the possibility the fire was touched off by a wood stove. "

if the woodstove was involved somthing wasnt being done correctly. would be interesting to see the complete report when its done.

 

[bartlett7516]

It doesnt matter; lack of knowledge,green wood,whatever God be with the survivors

 

[theora55]

What a sad story. Everybody remember to go check their smoke alarm & fire extinguisher.

 

[njtomatoguy]

Smoke detectors in the same room

CO detector at chest level in the same room and the bedroom.

Fire extinguisher in bedroom, just in case.

Prevention. not reaction.

God bless the family.

 

[begreen]

I agree with Mike. If the stove was installed haphazardly or with disregard to combustibles clearances it is really a tragic human error and not the stove.

 

[karl]

Ok. I'll say it.

How much better of a chance would they have had if the four guys could have fought the fire instead of holding some dumba** back?

 

[begreen]

When a house fire is full ablaze, it can be close to impossible to control, regardless of manpower.

 

[Shari]

It's not always the fire that kills it's the smoke. Depending upon combustibles, it might only take 15 minutes. Not related to a wood stove, but we lost a family member due to smoke inhalation in a house fire. Yes, there were functioning smoke alarms.

Shari

 

[CowboyAndy]

Velvet, I just don't see why you are automaticly jumping on them for saying that it was from a woodstove. I mean, they even mentioned that they were looking at the "possibility".

God bless this family, but chances are it was human error of some type... and the chances that had to do with the wood stove are pretty good...

 

[velvetfoot]

Read my words Cowboy, I didn't blame anything or anyone.

 

[Chettt]

I've noticed that with most house fires the public seldom learns the real cause of the fire. If it is just a simple chimney fire and no one gets hurt, the newspaper will never say that the chimney had not been cleaned for years etc. I think if they did more follow up reporting it would help make burning wood safer for every one.

 

[bsruther]

A couple days ago, I did a search on Google news using "wood stove fire" in the search line and was very surprised at the amount of stories there were.
Two of the first six incidents happened less than thirty miles from my house.

 

[firefighterjake]

"Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said Monday investigators were looking at the possibility the fire was touched off by a wood stove. "

if the woodstove was involved somthing wasnt being done correctly. would be interesting to see the complete report when its done.

In this case with a multi-fatality fire I would suspect that there is a pretty good chance there will be much more detailed report . . . and a pretty good chance the NFPA might release something about this fire as they often report fires such as this one in the NFPA Journal and on-line (typically obscuring the finer details such as the actual town/city.)

 

[firefighterjake]

Ok. I'll say it.

How much better of a chance would they have had if the four guys could have fought the fire instead of holding some dumba** back?

Probably not so good since it sounds as though the fire was really cooking at that point -- the heat, smoke and toxic gases were most likely pretty lethal by the time these folks got there . . . one could say the four guys prevented Fatality #9 from happening.

 

[humpin iron]

80% of fires involving solid fuel are related to improper install

 

[savageactor7]

Ok. I'll say it.

How much better of a chance would they have had if the four guys could have fought the fire instead of holding some dumba** back?

Probably not so good since it sounds as though the fire was really cooking at that point -- the heat, smoke and toxic gases were most likely pretty lethal by the time these folks got there . . . one could say the four guys prevented Fatality #9 from happening.

Yeah what Jake says...that house was out in the sticks by the time the volunteers got there it was fully engulfed. Even a big city firefighter with the best gear available has limitations with a fully engulfed wood structure. roofs/ceiling can collapse on you or you fall threw a floor.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/eight_people_unaccounted_for_a.html

 

[velvetfoot]

Very sad story.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/eight_people_unaccounted_for_a.html

 

[jdemaris]

Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said Monday investigators were looking at the possibility the fire was touched off by a wood stove.

Something similar happens every winter, especially in the Tug Hill and Adirondack areas. At least the guy made some effort to go back in. We've had 3 or 4 total losses from wood fires just in my local area this winter. They just don't all make it to the AP story status.

Last year an entire family (father and four children) was wiped out in Northern Michigan in the Rogers City area. All died EXCEPT the young mother who ran out of the house, and it seems, never looked back. Fireplace was the suspected "cause", and they had no smoke alarms.

I've never known a wood stove to "start" a fire, any more than I known a gun to shoot somebody, or an SUV to "cause" an accident.

Even happens in warmer areas like this one in Kentucky:

BARDSTOWN, Ky. - "A fast-moving blaze killed 10 people early Tuesday - six of them children - in Kentucky's deadliest house fire in thirty years . . . Two people were injured. Neighbors said the pair had to be prevented from running back into the flames in an attempt to rescue the screaming children. "

 

[humpin iron]

improper install, too close-wrong hearth-wrong pipe-thats how stoves start fires. I tell customers "it's like eating cheeseburgers everyday.....your gonna meet a doctor someday"

 

[SethB2]

if the woodstove was involved somthing wasnt being done correctly.

Wait ... so my wood stove isn't supposed to burn my house down?

 

[SteveT]

if the woodstove was involved somthing wasnt being done correctly.

Wait ... so my wood stove isn't supposed to burn my house down?

Seth, I believe the point Mike is making is that it was probably something the folks in the house did improperly (clearance to combustibles or something like that) and NOT an inherent safety issue in the stove itself.

 

[SethB2]

if the woodstove was involved somthing wasnt being done correctly.

Wait ... so my wood stove isn't supposed to burn my house down?

Seth, I believe the point Mike is making is that it was probably something the folks in the house did improperly (clearance to combustibles or something like that) and NOT an inherent safety issue in the stove itself.

Well yeah. I thought that was fairly obvious.

 

[savageactor7]

^hey stuff happens....we have to be right all the time, the fire only has to be right once.

 

[CountryGal]

Tragic story. One of the comments on the news story link on one of the posts said the homeowner cleaned the stove and had a habit of putting the ashes on the floor. Now, this came from an anonymous poster and sounds highly doubtful.