2 people, 4 dogs and 2 cats escape house fire in Murphysboro

Oct. 1--MURPHYSBORO -- "It was a good old house," Donna Walters said Monday as she stood in her yard, watching the house she remodeled burn.

She hasn't lived in the 100-year-old white farm house at 4740 Country Club Road in 10 years, but she remembered fondly her wedding day there -- she and her husband, Greg Walters, said their vows on the front porch in 1985.

Walters was one of more than a dozen people watching the scene, helping where they could.

Across the gravel drive from the house was KC's Pet Grooming. Several hundred yards away, smoke clouded the building as owner Cory Burten, her husband, Nathan Simpkins, and others sprayed hoses on the roof to make sure the businesses never caught fire.

"The shop and dogs are all fine," Burten could be heard telling clients over the phone after the scene settled down that afternoon.

Kaylan Talley was on the phone with her internet company when she sat down, only to look across the room and see smoke coming out of the wall. She ran to get Burten, her boss, and she called 911 just after 1:15 p.m.

Melissa Brandt was resting in her second-story room Monday afternoon -- she had lived in the house only about six months. She lived there with Talley -- two other roommates had moved out just a few weeks before. They all had worked for Burten on the property at one time or another.

"Mel, Mel the house is on fire," she heard Burten yell. She sprang up, grabbing as many of her six pets as she could. She took them down to her car and went back inside. Her cat, Jinxie, didn't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation and didn't take kindly to being wrenched from under the bed. The scratches she gave Brandt are proof.

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Brandt watched the scene as fire crews hosed the house down, smoke billowing from every crack in its construction. She was mostly quiet, but offered commentary on the action -- at one point she saw a firefighter in her bedroom and petitioned him to get her cellphone that was left inside. She had been offered a phone to call friends and family, but admitted she didn't remember anyone's number.

Brandt lamented that she didn't have renter's insurance but felt her boss, Burten, would help as best she could.

"As long as I got my babies out, I'm good," she told The Southern.

As the scene wound down, Burten, Brandt, Talley and the gathered family and friends sat to watch the fire crews work. They made small talk and made plans of who was going to sleep where and get clothes from whom.

Simpkins interjected.

"Do you realize you saved Mel's life," he said, looking at Talley. She put her face in her hands as the others repeated Simpkins' sentiment.

Murphysboro Pomona Somerset Fire Department responded to the call. A representative for the department told The Southern that the house was a total loss and that the cause of the fire was undetermined as of press time.

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