MIDDLE FORK – A home in the Middle Fork area was destroyed by fire on Monday, with the owner’s dogs rescued just in time.
Justin Baldwin told the Independent he was at work on February 7 when he received a call from his mother at approximately 2 p.m., stating she could see smoke rolling out of the doors of his house. He had her call 911 and left work in town to go home.
“I got there before the fire department did, and I tried to go in, but there was just so much smoke and heat, I couldn’t go in,” Baldwin said, noting he was yelling for his dogs at the door, but they hid under the bed.
The Middle Fork Volunteer Fire Department arrived shortly after, running in and saving the two small dogs, which Baldwin has owned for 15 and 10 years.
“I’ve learned you must get insurance,” Baldwin said. “I always said it would never happen to me, but here we are.”
He said there is currently an ongoing arson investigation, noting that the fire started when no one was home and in the back bedroom where nothing was plugged in, but when the investigation is over, he plans to tear down the remaining structure and start, again.
“It is what it is,” Baldwin said. “I just got to man-up and do what I have to do.”
Baldwin lost everything in the fire and is currently staying with family, but expressed gratitude to the Middle Fork Volunteer Fire Department for their quick response in saving his two dogs.
