Photo courtesy of Molalla Fire Department
MFD Chief Vince Stafford and crews use a WARN winch to pull a Chevrolet Blazer from Tom and Shirley Stonehocker's garage during a house fire in Molalla on Saturday. Click the photo to view a slideshow.
UPDATED: A retired Molalla couple lost their home of 40 years in a fire that started shortly before noon on Saturday while no one was home.
Tom and Shirley Stonehocker, who reside at 29902 S. Sprague Road in rural Molalla, were visiting her mother in Molalla Saturday morning when they noticed smoke outside.
“We saw it from town,” Shirley said. “I never dreamed it was my place.”
Their neighbors spotted the fire next door and called 9-1-1.
“My children noticed it and then they told me,” said Sean Dougherty, the Stonehockers’ neighbor. “I saw Tom leave the house, but I didn’t see Shirley, so I was afraid she was in there.”
Dougherty ran to the house, kicking in the door and breaking several windows in an attempt to see if anyone was inside. He said an explosion — likely from some propane tanks on the patio — forced him to retreat to safety, but not before releasing the Stonehockers’ dog from the backyard.
“We don’t know if the cat made it out (of the house) or not,” the Stonehockers’ daughter, Sherrill Stonehocker, said.
Molalla Fire Department responded to the blaze, receiving assistance from Colton, Clackamas and Canby Fire Districts.
When the first MFD crews arrived, they found the home’s garage fully engulfed in flames, with the fire spreading through the house, MFD Public Information Officer Denise Everhart said.
“We didn’t know for the first hour if anyone was in the house,” Everhart said.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when both Tom and Shirley showed up at the house.
Dougherty’s wife, Diana Dougherty, had found the Stonehockers in town and told them the news. They returned home to see the damage for themselves, watching the home continue to burn from the Doughertys’ backyard, accompanied by their grown children, Sherrill Stonehocker and Clayton Stonehocker, who also reside in Molalla.
“I wouldn’t make it without my kids,” Shirley said.
Sherrill and Clayton grew up at the home, where their parents have lived for most of their married life.
“It was a mobile home and my grandfather and my dad built on to it,” Sherrill Stonehocker said.
The home had always been a popular place for the family to congregate.
“We were supposed to carve pumpkins today,” Sherrill said.
A backyard playhouse that the Stonehockers built for their grandchildren was also damaged in the flames.
Firefighters worked for six hours to fully extinguish the fire. Everhart said it was the longest house fire she has ever fought.
The home’s original tin roof had a gable roof built over the top, which trapped the fire between the two layers and prevented firefighters from reaching the flames, Everhart said.
Knowing the home’s rafters could collapse at any moment, it was unsafe to fight the fire from inside or from the roof, Everhart said, so the firefighters decided to try a new tactic, using a WARN winch to pull down some of the home’s walls and part of the roof.
They also used the winch to pull the Stonehockers’ Chevrolet Blazer from the garage, although it was too late to save the vehicle.
The winch method was unconventional, Everhart said, but worked efficiently, saving them from breaking down the walls by hand using axes.
As of Monday, the cause of the fire remained under investigation. Dougherty told firefighters that the flames appeared to have started at the back of the house in the home’s kitchen, Everhart said.
As she watched her home burn, Shirley mourned the many losses, especially the irreplaceable items, like the home videos with footage of her children growing up and her late father. Still, she tried to stay positive.
“It’s just stuff,” she said. “God knows what is going to happen before it happens, so he’ll see you through.”
Later, firefighters were able to retrieve a hope chest and some tubs of family keepsakes from within the house.
“We brought it out and (Shirley) started crying,” Everhart said. “That really makes our job worthwhile. Even though we lost the home, we were able to save some of the things that meant so much to them.”
Before retiring, Shirley worked for many years with special education students in Molalla River School District and Tom worked at the RSG Forest Products mill in Molalla.
Shirley said she loves her home’s picturesque view of the Willamette Valley and Mt. Hood and said views of lightning storms and sunrises were especially spectacular.
“If I can have my way, we will rebuild,” she said.
For now, Shirley said they will likely borrow her sister-in-law’s motor home to park nearby. The Stonehockers’ home is insured.
Click on the photo to view a slideshow.