In Jan. 29 IssueBy Derek Aaron Times Journal ReporterAn early morning house fire in Russell Springs on Sunday sent five people to the local hospital with smoke inhalation and destroyed the home, according to Russell Springs Fire Chief H.M. Bottom.
Bottom said his department was called out at 1 a.m. on Sunday to a rental house on Lakeway Drive in Russell Springs near Bernard Lane.
"When we arrived on the scene, the house was totally engulfed in flames," he said.
Bottom said five occupants in the home, which was owned by Estes and J.S. Emerson, escaped the blaze, but just barely.
The home was being rented by Emory and Linda Coons and their daughter, Brenda Coons.
The fire chief said two other adult visitors were also at the residence at the time of the fire.
Bottom said Emory Coons, who was in the basement at the time of the fire, escaped through the basement door after the fire was too severe for him to go upstairs to tell the others to get out of the house.
The four other occupants did escape through an upstairs window, he said.
All five were treated at the Russell County Hospital for smoke inhalation, according to Bottom.
He also said Linda Coons received second degree burns to one of her hands while Brenda Coons received cuts to her hand while escaping through the window.
The fire destroyed the home, completely gutting the inside. Only a few bricks remain standing where the house once stood.
Bottom did say that the department was able to prevent the fire from spreading to other homes nearby.
In all, firemen were on the scene until around 5 a.m. Sunday, or about four hours.
