Fire destroys mobile home

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Smoke billowed from the doors and windows of this home on Ravenwood Drive off Waterworks Road as firefighters extinguished the flames inside. Photo by Nita Johnson
A shocked and dismayed Ed Gibson sits in the driveway and calls friends after watching his belongings destroyed in an afternoon fire Wednesday. Photo by Nita Johnson

January 30, 2012

Same residence hit by burglars before Christmas

By Nita Johnson Staff Writer The Sentinel-Echo Mon Jan 30, 2012, 10:40 AM EST

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Neighbors and family stood along the sloping driveway and yard off Ravenwood Drive early Wednesday afternoon, watching as huge clouds of smoke came from inside a mobile home.

Members of the Laurel County Volunteer Fire Department donned their gear and entered the residence to battle the blaze, dousing the walls and floors in a futile attempt to save the belongings of the occupants.

Ed Gibson arrived on the scene, only to see total destruction of his belongings literally going up in flames. Putting his hands over his eyes, then placing his hand over his chest, Gibson eased himself to a sitting position on the ground.

“Everything I own is in that trailer,” he said to relative Josh Myers.

Tina Bomia, another family member, said Gibson had left the home not long before someone spotted smoke and flames at the residence. Rick Cole and his teenage son also live in the mobile home, although the teen was at school at the time and Cole is working out of town in Floyd County, Bomia said.

The fire is another major setback for the men, who were victims of a theft just before Christmas.

“There was a break-in about a month ago,” Myers said. “They took a flat screen TV, video games and other stuff — everything that was valuable.”

Bomia worried about the new electric flat top guitar that the younger Cole had received recently from his mother.

“His mom bought him a new guitar, about $800. I’m sure it is destroyed. He’s not had it very long,” she added.

As if the total destruction of his home were not enough, Gibson narrowly escaped injury himself. Walking closer to the mobile home to examine the damage, an electrical wire short circuited, popping as it sent sparks into the air — just inches from where Gibson stood.

The London Fire Department provided a truck to supply water to the Laurel County firefighters who stayed on the scene until the flames were out. Also on the scene were members of Ambulance Inc. of Laurel County and the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.

njohnson@sentinel-echo.com

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