Picking up pieces

Published 10:05 pm Monday, February 15, 2010

Troy natives Jason and Carla Oswald were watching television like any other night when their youngest son came in to tell them his TV quit working.

“We were going back to check on it, and that’s when we saw smoke,” Jason Oswald said.

The family of five quickly darted out the door and watched their home go up in flames around 6 p.m. Friday.

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By the time the fire department arrived, flames were already engulfing the home.

“It came in fully involved,” said Troy Fire Chief Thomas Outlaw.

“The flames were on the outside of the house and had come out through the window. It was a very fast moving fire.”

Jason, his wife and three children Kathy, Cole and Gray all managed to make it out of their home safely.

“We ran out the front door,” he said.

“It took off from there.”

Outlaw said the fire was most likely an electrical fire, when an extension cord plugging in the TV shorted.

The home had heavy damage to two rooms and smoke damage in the rest of the home, Outlaw said.

Oswald said this was his wife’s childhood home lost in the fire at 205 Hampton Ave.

Now, the family is staying at the Hampton Inn until they find a new place to go.

“They’ve been real good at giving us a discount while we look for a place to live temporarily until we get it straightened out.”

Outlaw said it’s important local residents keep multiple smoke detectors in their homes.