Blind girl rescued from blaze

LIMA - A fire in southwest Lima Thursday afternoon destroyed the home of a couple and their teenage daughter, who is blind, although her father was able to get her safely out of the house.

The fire - located near the border of Shawnee and American townships - broke out around 5:45 p.m. at the one-story family dwelling at 3050 Spring View Drive, according to Shawnee Township Firefighter John Norris.

The owner of the home, David Johnson, was renting the single-family dwelling to James H. Smith, who lived there with his wife, Michelle, and their 16-year-old daughter, Haley, who is blind and was inside when the fire broke out, according to Mr. Smith.

Smith was there in time to escort the girl out, before she or anyone was injured, he said.

"I saw the smoke and I got her out of there," said Smith, as firefighters battled the blaze fully engulfing his home. "She's the one in a predicament now. She's got to learn her way around again. She'd finally learned her way around this house."

Although firefighters had the fire under control within an hour, Norris said, the smoke was billowing and spilling into the nearby suburbs, which was seen from several blocks away as clouds of smoke rolled through neighborhoods and drew a crowd of onlookers.

Nearby, Tom Huber and his son, Robert, noticed the flames at the neighboring property and called 911 after emergency responders received the first notification of the fire through a shortwave radio from Smith's friend. Norris said Smith contacted the caller through the radio and that person was the first caller.

Norris said the home sustained $60,000 in structural damage and $20,000 in damage to contents because the place was destroyed and likely very little, if anything, would be salvaged.

While working at the fire late into the evening, he said, they were assisted in a big way by other departments as well as the Shawnee Ladies Auxiliary, which provided water and food in scorching hot temperatures.

"On a hot day like this," he said, as sweat soaked the numerous firefighters from several departments, "any kind of help to keep us cool really goes a long way."

Norris said with help from the Lima and American Township fire departments, and the numerous volunteers and off-duty personnel called to the scene, as many as 30 firefighters were busy fighting the fire, and helping at some point.

The Allen County Chapter of the American Red Cross also responded and is providing assistance for the family with housing and immediate needs.

Preliminary investigations indicated the fire was an accident.