A family of nine lost their home and three pets in a house fire the afternoon of May 1 in Brookfield.
No members of the Hoskin family were home when the blaze broke out, but two cats and a dog perished. Another dog was resuscitated by Vienna emergency medical personnel.
“It sucks,” said Mike Hoskin, as he and his wife, Tricia, were removing valuables before a disaster response company boarded up their home at 6115 Merwin Chase Road. The couple has seven children.
The call came in at 2:48 p.m., said Brookfield Fire Capt. James Williamson.
“A passerby saw smoke coming from the one side of the building,” he said. “They got on scene, they found heavy smoke showing.”
The initial report indicated the home was occupied. The firefighters split up, half of the group searching the house, and the other half attacking the fire, Williamson said.
“They knocked the fire out really, really quick,” he said. “Made a really aggressive attack.”
The cause was being investigated, Williamson said. “Doesn’t appear to be any incendiary activities, but we’re probably gonna list it as undetermined.”
“The first floor sustained quite a bit of damage,” he said. “The second floor, just some smoke. A lot of the smoke damage was from having their bedroom doors open. It’s what we tell people: when you leave, or even when you sleep, to keep that door closed. It creates that tremendous barrier for smoke, and that was evident on the third floor, where the adults sleep, their door was closed. There was only smoke odor, no damage whatsoever.”
Williamson said his initial damage estimate was $120,000 to $150,000.
“The first crews on scene did an excellent job,” he said. “They called for help right away; the extra help that was called wasn’t needed. The first initials (responders), like Vienna and the chief from Burghill-Vernon, was instrumental in stopping this from being a lot more severe.”
The American Red Cross was finding shelter for the family, Williamson said.

 

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