Neighbor helps family escape burning home north of Billings

Oct. 1--A home in a neighborhood between Billings and Roundup was heavily damaged by a fire early Sunday morning.

Melanie Good, who lives in the house with her husband, Harley Long, two twin sons and a daughter, escaped the blaze when a neighbor pounded on their door at 4:45 a.m., Good said in an interview Monday night.

The neighbor was up early that morning, unable to sleep. His dog had been barking and seemed agitated, so the neighbor went outside to check the street, Good said. He saw flames coming from the garage and immediately ran across the street to warn Good and Long.

"We were awakened by some banging on the door," Good said.

Long got up to see who could possibly be at the door at that hour, when he saw his neighbor standing there.

"He shouted, 'Get out! The garage is on fire!'" Good said.

Good and Long immediately woke their children; the twins are second-graders and their daughter is in high school. One of the twin boys has cerebral palsy and can't walk. His wheelchair was in the garage.

"His dad picked him up and carried him," Good said. "It's just pure adrenaline."

The family has been staying at the Boothill Inn since the fire. Good and Long will meet with their insurance adjuster at the house on Tuesday to assess the damage. Most of the roof is gone, as well as the garage. The water damage is significant, Good said.

From there, she'll start looking for temporary housing for the family; depending on what happens with the insurance it could be 8 months before they're back home, Good said. She hopes to find something that will keep the family close to Independent Elementary, the boys' school.

The home is on Middle Valley Drive and was just beginning to catch fire from a garage when Shepherd Fire arrived around 5 a.m.

"The garage was fully involved, and it had started into the attic area above the kitchen," Shepherd Volunteer Fire Chief Phil Ehlers said. "So it was up in the trusses and moving across when we got there."

The fire burned hot enough to melt some of the siding on a house next door, Ehlers said.

The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office is investigating, according to YCSO Lt. Dan Paris. There were multiple children, adults and pets in the ranch-style home at the time of the fire, Paris said. Paris described fire damage to the home as "significant."

The Worden Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the fire. Shepherd Fire cleared the scene of the fire at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

Friends of the family have started a GoFundMe page to help replace what was lost in the fire.

The community has also banded together to donate clothes and other items, which can be dropped off at Independent.

"We've been very fortunate, very humbled" by all the support, Good said. "It's overwhelming."

They've worked through all sorts of emotions since Sunday; they're convinced their neighbor saved their lives.

"It could have been a very different outcome," she said.

The way the fire was spreading, had the family gotten up even a few minutes later, "it would have blocked us from getting out the doors," Good said.

They're hoping to salvage some family photographs from the fire; all their other possessions they'll have to replace. Which is fine, Good said. They're just things.

"Everything's gonna be OK," she said. "We have our family."

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