‘It was not a normal call’ [Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.]

Nov. 24--Olivehurst volunteer firefighter Kayla Fisher was training at the fire house around 9 p.m. Tuesday when the first report of a house fire blared over the emergency scanner.

"I heard the tones go off, then I heard the address and my heart sank into my stomach," Fisher said.

In fact, every firefighter in the station knew that burning house in the 1900 block of 11th Avenue was the home where Fisher grew up -- and the home where her parents and younger brothers still live.

"It was just 'oh my god, oh my god, that's my parents house,'" Fisher said. "It was hard for everyone, because it was like one of our own; it was not a normal call."

Jumping on an engine, Fisher saw thick columns of black smoke rising into the night air the moment the engines pulled around the street corner.

"I saw smoke rolling out from under the back porch and just lost it," Fisher said.

Fisher joined the volunteer Explorer's Program at the department when she was 14 years old and has fought a number of fires, but could only try to console her family as she watched their home of more than 20 years go up in flames.

Fisher's husband, James, is also a volunteer firefighter and was one of the first men through the front door.

"We'd heard there was a child trapped inside," Fisher said. "He thought he heard my brother calling for help and tried to look for him."

But the family and all their pets had escaped without injury.

"It was a devastating feeling," Fisher said. "I mean, I grew up here and even now all this just doesn't feel real."

Fire Chief Wade Harrison said flames were sparked in the family's laundry room toward the rear of the house. The fire spread quickly up the wall, into the attic and curled over a wall into the kitchen.

No one was hurt, and the fire is not considered suspicious, but the exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Family members believe the fire may have started in a pile of clothing they said was placed too close to the water heater.

Harrison estimated total damage to the home and property inside at about $200,000.

"It would take a lot of work to save the house," Harrison said.

A total of 18 firefighters from Olivehurst, Marysville, Linda and Wheatland utilized four engines and one fire truck and knocked down the blaze in less than 30 minutes, Harrison said.

When it was over, the backside of the house had been gutted and heavy smoke and fire damage claimed most of the roof and ceiling -- but much of her family's sentimental belongings had been saved.

The following morning, Fisher and her younger brothers, Dakota and Walker, started the painful process of cleaning and salvaging.

"It's kinda sad seeing things like this," said Walker, 12.

Fisher said her parents, Chris and Traci Watson, were OK, all things considered.

"My dad is just quiet about it and my mom starts to cry any time she tries to talk about it," Fisher explained. "But, we know it could've been much worse if it wasn't for all the firefighters -- there could be nothing left, otherwise."

Dakota Watson said the fire would not ruin his family's holiday season -- especially Thanksgiving.

"Oh, I'll still eat -- I'll eat no matter what happens to my house," the wisecracking 19-year-old man said while shoveling black piles of crumbled, charred drywall from the living room floor.

The family plans to have the holiday meal with relatives in Lincoln and has already made arrangements with their many friends and neighbors for living accommodations in the short term.

The long-term plan is less certain as the Watsons did not have fire insurance and, while investigators have yet to make a determination, the family is not optimistic about the chances of saving their home.

Dakota Watson said he was grateful to all his friends and neighbors who tried to help extinguish the blaze and said it would be important for his family to maintain a sense of humor.

When asked if he was able to salvage anything of sentimental value, Watson joked, "Oh, yeah, I found all the porn."

Fisher smiled a little, too.

"I guess you gotta find something to laugh about," she said.

But laughter and jokes only mask the pain and sorrow of losing more than two decades of family memories.

Fisher is 12 weeks pregnant and said she was worried her mother's wedding photographs were lost and feared she may never be able to share those precious items with her own children.

She said the tragedy would be a good reminder for people to be conscious of fire dangers of all kinds.

The holidays are a particularly tough time for a family to lose its home and state fire officials said Thanksgiving Day is the most dangerous day for home cooking fires.

"Don't be fooled, it happens to firefighters -- to the people whose job this is," Fisher said. "It can happen to anyone."

CONTACT reporter Rob Parsons at 749-4785

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