The fire was reported shortly after 3 p.m., and was most likely sparked by lightning, firefighters said. The owner, Glenna Girdner, was in Fort Smith, Ark., at the time of the fire, her son, Darren Girdner, said. Darren Girdner's son, Treye, Glenna Girdner's grandson, raced into the home and rescued some of his grandmother's legal documents just as firefighters arrived.
A neighbor, Jane Hadley, said she heard the lightning strike at about 3 p.m.
"It was so loud it made me jump," she said. "I screamed."
Hadley was the one who noticed the smoke rising from the top of the Girdner residence about 10 minutes later and called the fire department.
Hadley then ran into the home herself, looking for Mrs. Girdner's pet, a miniature poodle named Cherie.
"She usually stays in the laundry room, but I couldn't find her," Hadley said, with trembling lips. Hadley hoped the pet was hiding under a bed in the home, or in a place safe from the smoke and flames.
Firemen had their hands full as they fought to contain the blaze. After pouring water into the upper story of the home, they turned their hoses on the first floor, which was also beginning to burn. As they donned masks and oxygen bottles to fight the fire on the bottom level, the winds began to gust, and the fire in the upper floor rose again.
The firefighters then raced up ladders placed against the sides of the house in order to better battle the wind-fed blaze on the upper story by directing their hoses from above. Even then they had to duck fingers of flame which were swept out of the upper story by the wind.
Mrs. Girdner arrived back home and was surrounded by family, friends and neighbors who offered support. Some neighbors offered coats and others ran for umbrellas, as rain began to pelt firemen and bystanders. Some offered hugs and a shoulder to lean against.
"This is the second time I've lost a home to a fire," Mrs. Girdner said as she watched the firefighters try to save her home. She explained a previous home north of Sallisaw near Brushy Lake burned several years ago. That fire was also believed to have been started by lightning.
As the Girdner family and neighbors watched, Sallisaw firemen entered the home to battle the blaze while others stumbled out, removing masks and oxygen tanks to catch a breath of fresh air.
Fireman Steve Padgett struggled with oxygen tanks to keep them available, while a beeping noise could be heard. Tracy Baker, who's husband, Randall Baker, is not only a firefighter but also principal at Liberty Elementary School, explained the noise was emitted when the oxygen tank was low on air. Baker stayed at the fire watching over her husband as he and 18 other Sallisaw firemen tried to save the home.
Not only did the flames themselves cause problems for the firefighters, but smoke did too as it roiled through the home as the fire spread, then rose into the sky, drifting quickly east with the wind.
But Sallisaw firemen prevailed, and by 4 p.m. the fire was out.
At just about the same moment one of those firemen, Joel Stump, came walking out of the smoke with a small fuzzy bundle in his arms. Armstrong had rescued an important piece of Mrs. Girdner's life. He rescued her dog, Cherie, and delivered the small smoke-smudged poodle into its owner's arms. Mrs. Girdner's tears of despair were replaced, for a short time at least, by tears of joy.
Sallisaw Fire Captain Jarrett Hetherington said Wednesday morning that two firemen received minor injuries fighting the fire - one to his back and another to his shoulder.
He estimated the damage to the home at between $75,000 and $80,000, and reported the home sustained heavy fire and smoke damage on the second floor and in the attic. The first floor had heavy damage from smoke and water.
"It was probably lightning" that caused the fire, Hetherington said. "It affected the wiring in the attic."
The weather caused additional problems, Hetherington said. "The winds were a problem, but the rain probably helped," he explained.
The firefighters fought the blaze in three-man crews on the second floor and in the attic, Hetherington said.
Hetherington said 19 Sallisaw firemen fought the fire from shortly after 3 p.m. to about 4:45 or 5 p.m., and spent another hour cleaning up, picking up and storing equipment.
