Wanda English Burnett - Editor

Halloween night, October 31, turned into a nightmare quickly for the Craig family of Delaware when their house trailer went up in smoke, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

“Thank God for smoke alarms!” exclaimed Linda Simers, who owns the trailer. “We had just bought three,” she noted, and Dean Craig, who rented the property, said he had installed them. They worked and alerted the family in time to get out of the smoking trailer.

Dean Craig said he was at his job at Swifty at Aurora and his wife and son were home at the time of the fire. They were at opposite ends of the trailer when the alarm went off. Both were able to get out to safety, but the home quickly went up in flames, killing their family pet, a cat named Gizmo.

“Flames were through the roof when we arrived,” noted Delaware Volunteer Fire Chief Ron Bushhorn. A propane tank in close proximity to the trailer was concern for firefighters as they battled the blaze. The chief noted that the Milan Volunteer Fire Department assisted them with their tanker and air packs. Dillsboro Volunteer Fire Department also assisted with their cascade system and filled 34 air bottles for the Delaware firemen.

Although it seemed like an eternity for Andrea before the firemen arrived, they were on the scene in about six minutes, according to Fire Chief Bushhorn.

Simers noted that the dead end road (3390 E CR 500 N) was lit up with a variety of emergency units who responded within minutes. “They were all just great,” she noted.

Sandy Vanderbur with the Ripley County Chapter of the American Red Cross said the organization would be giving the family a month’s rent and a voucher for items from Aurora Wal-Mart.

Dakota, who is a fifth grader at Jac-Cen-Del, lost his PlayStation, something he had waited a long time for. “He just got it last year,” the parents sadly noted. They quickly agreed that material things they could regain, and were thankful everyone was okay. While the landlord had insurance on the trailer itself, the Craig family didn’t have renter’s insurance.

If anyone would like to help this family they can contact the Southeastern Indiana Independent Living Center at 148 Buckeye Street, Osgood, by calling 689-3753. If no answer, just leave a message and someone will get back to you. They will be needing everything to set up housekeeping including large and small appliances, furniture, clothing, dishes, linens, and more.

At press time the cause of the fire was undetermined. No foul play is suspected.