by Kevin Lilly
The cause of the fire that destroyed a mobile home in Flora and possibly killed the man who resided there has been ruled undetermined.
Flora Fire Chief Scott Sisson said the on-scene investigation into the cause of Thursday’s blaze wrapped up at about 2 a.m. the next day. Because the fire may have resulted in a fatality, the state fire marshal’s office was called to the scene. Investigators have yet to complete their report, but Sisson suspects an electrical problem.
“The cause is officially undetermined, but we feel very strongly about an electrical problem,” Sisson said during a phone interview Friday.
The report of a mobile home in flames with a person inside came in Thursday night at 8:46 p.m. By the time volunteer firefighters arrived four minutes later, the mobile home’s lone occupant, 52-year-old Johnnie Farris Dyer, had been carried out of the smoke-filled residence, which is located on the southeast side of the Carroll County town 10 miles east of Delphi.
Neighborhood kids had told their parents about smoke coming from Dyer’s home. Three men made entry, found Dyer and pulled him out. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sisson considered the actions of those three men heroic for putting themselves in danger trying to save Dyer. He said he would not recommend anyone doing that, but understood that adrenaline gets going in a situation like that and people sometimes do things they normally wouldn’t.
“We’re dressed to do that. They’re not,” Sisson said. “They definitely put themselves on the line to do that.”
Firefighters rely on training, not adrenaline, when fighting a fire, said the chief.
“Our attitude is that we will risk a little to save a lot, but we won’t risk a lot to save a little. In this case, it was worth the effort. They (those three men) saw it was something that needed done right away.”
Sisson said they extinguished the fire in about 15 minutes. The rear of the trailer suffered extensive damage while the front, where Dyer had been found, appeared to have only smoke and water damage.
Coroner J.D. Cree said results from an autopsy performed Friday morning were pending. He said he should know sometime this week whether the fire claimed Dyer’s life or a medical condition.
Kevin Lilly can be reached at (574) 732-5117, or via e-mail at kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com
