Payette, ID - Dylan Husfloen, 15, of Fruitland was honored at the Payette County Sheriff’s Office for his quick reaction that prevented a house in Fruitland from burning down.
Husfloen was at the home of Kevin and Jeretta Shoemaker, 7170 Denver Road in Fruitland, Jan. 2 visiting the Shoemakers’ children Doug Shoemaker, 15, and Alexa Shoemaker, 12. According to Kevin Shoemaker the three teens were in the family room where there is a wood stove. The teens were keeping the stove filled with wood to heat the home and keeping a kettle on the flat surface of the stove filled with water to allow for a little humidity in the house. Additionally there were two glass incased candles in the stove to provide a pleasant aroma.
“As one of the teens was filling the kettle some water splashed out,” Shoemaker said. “The bouncing balls of water on the stove knocked over one of the candle containers and it shattered. The melted wax spread across the hot stove and flashed into a fire almost instantly.”
One teen-ager threw a container of water on the flames and hot wax, however the candles were petroleum based, so when the water hit the wax, “It was like throwing water on a grease fire, it just spread to the ceiling and spread to the curtains,” Shoemaker said.
Husfloen ran to the kitchen and grabbed the fire extinguisher mounted on the wall and used it to put out the flames in the Shoemakers’ family room before it got any worse, and any more damage was done. The teens called 911 and their parents about the home being on fire. Payette County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene first. The teens had already evacuated the residence and were waiting for emergency personnel and their parents to arrive.
Parents and the Fruitland Fire Department arrived next. After the firefighter entered the house they found that there was just a little clean up to do. The fire had been properly extinguished by Husfloen.
“Dylan’s quick action limited the damages to just some smoke damage, some candle wax being spread across the floor and walls and some new curtains were the extent of the damage,” Shoemaker said. “This could have been so much worse.”
“I’ve never used a fire extinguisher before,” Husfloen said. “I just grabbed it and started spraying.”
The Shoemakers gave Husfloen a $25 gift certificate as a thank you for his quick thinking. Payette County Sheriff Chad Huff and New Plymouth Fire Chief Allen Blevins both said that Husfloen deserved the award for his actions. |
