Leicester kitchen fire destroys trailer home
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By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: June 24, 2009
LEICESTER — A kitchen fire destroyed a home on Stovepipe Avenue.
Brandon Fire Chief Robert Kilpeck, whose department covers Leicester, said the fire Monday night at the home of Crystal Sears appeared to start in an electric can opener that had been reduced to "a glob of metal."
"The fire started right there on the kitchen counter and extended to the cabinets that overhang," he said.
The flames were largely contained to the kitchen, Kilpeck said, but heat and smoke damage was such that he expects the trailer would be a total loss.
"There was a tremendous amount of heat and smoke," he said. "Heat especially, because it was closed up and there was nowhere for it to go. It traveled through the whole trailer. The plastic picture frames at the other end of the trailer, there was enough heat those melted."
Kilpeck said the owners had left at about 12:30 p.m. and returned around 7 p.m. and heard all three smoke alarms going off. They went next door to call 911, he said, and a neighbor used two fire extinguishers to keep the fire contained.
Kilpeck said firefighters were on the scene for about an hour.
"We had to take some of the cabinets out because there were still some smoldering spots," he said.
Firefighters were able to retrieve the owners' medications and oxygen tanks, but little in the way of personal items.
"You're never going to get the smoke out of the furniture or the clothes," he said.
The American Red Cross found the family a temporary place to stay and helped replace some food and clothing, according to regional emergency services director George Sykes.
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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