Uniontown home destroyed in fire

June 05--Renae and Jacy Van Pelt lost their home in a fire Saturday night, but the couple may have lost their six children trapped inside if not for the ringing of a nearby fire alarm or, perhaps, their father's screams.

Before Whitman County Fire District 14 volunteers from Uniontown and Colton could respond to the blaze on Moehrle Road, deep in the green hills outside of Uniontown, the Van Pelt couple found themselves in a life or death situation.

Due to the family's remote location and lack of cell service, Jacy was unable to call 911, so instead he texted his wife asking her to contact dispatch.

Renae said at about 10:30 p.m., she was making her way home from Lewiston when she received the first text message, "Get home now, house is on fire."

Renae said she thought it was a joke until her husband sent photos of the house going up in flames.

She said she made the drive home in under 10 minutes, and when she pulled into the driveway, she was met by a red glow and a thick cloud of smoke.

"I saw my neighbor and my husband trying to spray (the fire) down, and I collapsed," Renae recounted Monday.

She said her husband had been working in the barn when the fire started and was unable to get into the house in order to rescue their children.

"So instead he yelled and screamed until he woke up Hailey," Renae said.

Hailey Van Pelt, 13, heard the fire alarm going off, and after realizing smoke was filling her room, she woke up her five siblings -- Tristin, 14, Jayden, 9, Braeden, 7, Michael, 5, Saddie, 4 -- and got them out safely. The family pets escaped, too.

"If it wasn't for her getting up, things could have ended much worse," Renae said.

The fire is believed to have started next to a chest freezer under the front porch of the residence. It then quickly spread to the second floor, trapping the six children inside.

Hailey was the only person transported to the hospital Saturday. She was treated for smoke inhalation and asthma.

As Renae walked through the charred rooms of her house Monday, she salvaged signs and family pictures off its walls.

On the first floor, water still dripped from the ceiling and several inches of wet ash coated the stairs.

"One of the firefighters -- I am so thankful for him -- he came in and grabbed a bunch of our pictures and ran them out to us," she said.

Fire District 14 Chief Jon Dahmen said crews worked for about seven hours trying to extinguish the blaze.

"I think we counted 40 firefighters responded," Dahmen said, adding Fire District 12 from Pullman and Moscow Volunteer Fire Department assisted in the call.

Dahmen said the burn pattern indicates the fire was started by the chest freezer on the front porch of the residence.

"We did not have it investigated, but it does point in that general area," he said.

On Monday, a close friend of the Van Pelts, Sammae Dansereau, said the family is in need of totes and gift cards for food.

She said the family of eight has squeezed into an RV parked on the property, but they are without electricity and running water.

Renter's insurance will cover one hotel room until Wednesday, she said, at which point the family will have to find a more permanent solution.

Dansereau said a Facebook page called Van Pelt Fire Relief has also been set up, and donations can be made using the link.

The Red Cross has also responded to assist the family.

Katie Short can be reached at (208) 883-4633, or by email to kshort@dnews.com.

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