PARIS – A 91-year-old woman and her 20 pets were rescued from her smoke-filled home Wednesday after material piled on a stove caught fire while she cooked corned beef hash.
Annie Shorette was found standing in the kitchen of her 1-story home at 9 Church St. by Patrolman Alan Coffin, who was at the Paris Police Station about 100 feet away.
“I walked outside, saw smoke and when I got to her house the smoke was rolling out of her door and she was yelling for help,” Coffin said. “I opened the door, told her to come out and called the Fire Department.
“When I opened the door most of the smoke in kitchen came out and I saw her standing there,” Coffin said. “I went into kitchen to get her out.
“She told me she was cooking some corned beef hash,” he said.
Patrolman William Grover was also at the police station and ran to the house when he heard the call for firefighters shortly before noon.
“Officer Grover got some of the animals out. When the Fire Department got on scene, we got the rest of animals out,” Coffin said.
In all five puppies, nine dogs and six cats were saved.
Paris Fire Chief Brad Frost said the electric kitchen stove where Shorette was cooking was piled with material, which caught fire and flames spread up the wall.
She tried to extinguish it with some wet towels and they burned also, he said.
When firefighters arrived thick smoke was pouring out the windows.
“We found (the fire) right off using the thermal imaging camera,” Frost said. “It”s worth its weight in gold.”
The camera can located hot spots through the smoke.
The chief said firefighters, once they “got geared up,” had the fire out in 10 to 12 minutes.
Frost said there was smoke damage to the home, but little structural damage.
“They did a hell of a job,” Frost said. “It is very easy to be overcome by smoke.”
About 40 firefighters from Paris and Norway worked at the scene and Hebron Fire Department sent one truck and a crew to standby at the Paris Fire Station.
He said Shorette, who lives alone, would be staying with friends until the home was livable.
jsmedley@sunjournal.com
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