Flames destroy Theodosia home where family of seven lived


The single-story ranch-style home in Theodosia where Karla Brown lived with six of her family members was destroyed Thursday in a fire of undetermined cause. Brown’s son, Dustin Brown, suffered smoke inhalation and superficial burns and was flown by Air Evac to Mercy Hospital’s burn unit. The family’s two dogs died in the blaze.

Dustin Brown had breakfast Thursday morning at the Theodosia Bullseye station where his mother, Karla Brown, works. Then he returned to his mother’s home on County Road 635 in Theodosia to find sparks and smoke rising from the front of the single-story house where seven family members lived together. He knew two of those family members were still inside.

“He ran inside, trying to do what he could,” Karla Brown said Monday. Her 18-year-old grandson, Ethan Brown, was in the shower, and Dustin’s former wife Stormy Brown was asleep, she said. 

Dustin managed to get the two people outside, “and then he thought, ‘Oh my gosh. The dogs are still in there,’” Karla said. An older teacup chihuahua, Rufus, was probably in one of the bedrooms, she said, and the second dog, a puppy, Milo, was in a boarding crate. Dustin wanted to go back in, but the flames were too hot, Karla said. Both dogs perished in the blaze.

Dustin’s 911 call came into the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department at 7:03 a.m. that morning, May 20. Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Department responded quickly. “We definitely had water flowing by 7:30,” said TAVFD firefighter Craig Mierkowski, who served as incident commander.

Dustin tried to help the first firefighters on scene. “He was trying to help them get the water going,” Karla said, “but he had inhaled too much smoke and had superficial burns on his back and the back of his legs. I guess he had passed out, and they told him they were taking him to the ambulance.”

Ozark County Ambulance transported Dustin to the helicopter landing zone at the TAVFD firehouse on Highway 160, and Air Evac flew him to Springfield, where he was treated in Mercy Hospital’s burn unit. 

He came home Thursday evening, “even though they wanted to keep him,” Karla said. “But he was beside himself, wanting to get back home.”

Gainesville and Pontiac / Price Place VFDs responded to the fire in mutual aid. Mierkowski said a total of 10 firefighters fought the blaze, using tankers to provide the 20,000 gallons of water used to douse the stubborn flames. Fire personnel worked at the scene for “seven or eight hours,” he said, explaining that the home’s construction included a “difficult crawl space.”

TAVFD spokesperson Tracy Meal said  the house was a total loss, but firefighters were able to limit the blaze to a “minimal extension into the woods” surrounding the home. “The ladder truck from Gainesville was very helpful,” she said.

The state fire marshal was called to the scene, as well as TAVFD chaplain James Waverly, who also served as a firefighter.  Mike O’Connell, communications director with the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said in an email to the Times that the cause of the fire is “listed as undetermined.”

Karla expressed thanks to the firefighters. “It was pretty amazing. My driveway and road is so small, I don’t know how they got in there, but they did,” she said. 

She carried insurance on the home, but all her family’s possession were destroyed. She said Monday that friends and co-workers had been wonderful in the way they had offered support, including paying for motel rooms for the family until Sunday. 

Other friends have donated money and clothes for the family. “We wouldn’t have clothes if not for them,” she said, adding that her boss at Bullseye and his father “have helped tremendously.”

This is “the first time I’ve ever had that kind of experience in my whole life,” Karla said. “It’s pretty hard. But the difference is that this is a smaller community where people have really helped us. It’s really amazing how much people have done for us. If not for that, I don’t know what we’d do.”

She isn’t sure where the family will go after leaving the motel. Assistance can be sent to Brown in care of the Theodosia Bullseye, P.O. Box 425, Theodosia, MO.   

 

Ozark County Times

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