Jasper family displaced, responders able to save two pets

A Jasper family was displaced from their home on West 36th Street on Thursday evening after the home was severely damaged in a fire.

(Clothes and other essentials have been taken care of and a GoFundMe has been set up for the family at this link)

Eric and Kela Bailey, along with their two teenage children, were not home when a passingby noticed heavy smoke coming from the rear of the home. According to Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang, the passerby initially thought the smoke was coming from a grill, but after hearing a distinct pop, realized it was something more.

“It could have been an aerosol can or the electric,” Hochgesang surmised of the sound she may have heard.

The passerby exited her vehicle and approached the front door to notify the residents of the fire. No one was home, but she saw the family’s pets and tried to enter to get them out. However, they ran away from her, and the heavy smoke forced her to exit the home, afterwhich she called 911.

“When police arrived, they couldn’t see anything in the home from the amount of smoke,” Hoghgesang said.

The call came in at around 6 p.m. The fire department had just returned from responding to a medical call, and a few firefighters were on station for a meeting, which made for a quicker response to the fire, according to Hochgesang.

They arrived to find the fire concentrated in the rear of the home. Heavy winds complicated the response, whipping up the flames and reigniting hot spots. It also directed heat and smoke east of the home, damaging a neighboring house.

“It (neighboring home) had windows broken out and smoke damage on the inside,” Hochgesang said, adding it also caused an electric line to fall to the ground. “We had to call Jasper Electric to come out and to take care of that issue as well.”

He said they were working to restore electricity to the neighboring home on Friday morning.

The Baileys had six pets, four dogs and two cats, that firefighters found overcome by the smoke. Two dogs still had a heartbeat.

“They were lifeless when we brought them out,” Hochgesang said of the animals.

Firefighters, paramedics, and police officers worked together, using specialized pet-specific masks to deliver a blast of oxygen to the dogs while massaging their hearts. The dogs revived and were back up and about before responders left the scene.

Hochgesang said this was only the second time they had used the devices since they were donated to the fire department years ago by Invisible Fence.

The home had heavy damage to the back porch, carport, and garage, and smoke and water damage throughout the main portion and basement. Hochgesang wasn’t sure if the home would be a total loss. He said they should be able to salvage clothing, personal items and furniture. Firefighters helped the family gather some items from the home last night.

The family was put up in a hotel overnight and has a place to stay with family, Hochgesang said, though the Red Cross has been notified to assist.

Jasper responded with 34 firefighters and five engines and was on scene until 9:30 p.m. Officials closed 36th Street during the response. The department was assisted by the Jasper Police Department, the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office, Deaconess Memorial Emergency Medical Services, Jasper Electric, and the Red Cross.