Lightning starts blaze, destroys home

Tragedy struck Mary Vorheis on Wednesday, June 10, when a fire devoured her home southeast of Clarendon.

According to Jeremy Powell, Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department First Assistant Chief, the fire was called in at 12:28 p.m. by a passerby who spotted the smoke. The fire is thought to have burned from 45 minutes to an hour before it was even noticed.

The fire took an hour to be fully extinguished. Responders included; 14 Clarendon Fire Department firemen, five fire trucks, Donley County Sheriff’s Office and Clarendon EMS.

“I would recommend Clarendon’s Volunteer Fire Department to anybody. They’re great,” Mary Vorheis said. “The Sheriff’s Department couldn’t have handled it better; Butch was out there in a hurry and a deputy stayed there with me until my relatives showed up. I think they’re all super.” 

Lightning was blamed as the source of the fire. The flames started in the living room since it received the most severe damage. The rest of the house suffers from smoke and heat damage.

According to Vorheis, the house was insured and some things were able to be recovered, like a chest of  drawers and some pictures, but most everything was gone.

“The house had a metal roof and was sealed really tight, so it was like an oven,” Powell said. “What didn’t burn was baked.”

Fortunately, the house was unoccupied when the house set ablaze.

“I’m the only one who lived in the house because my husband is in the Nursing Home,” Vorheis said. “I had just finished up working for Pat Knolls when Johnny Floyd heard about my house on the scanner. He asked Billy Chadwick to call me and tell me, since I have known him for a long time.”

As of now, Vorheis is living in Annie Shelton’s house in Clarendon. Since her son Ben is in the United States Air Force and is currently serving in Iraq, Vorheis also qualifies for help from the United Way for family crisis. 

This fire was only one of the incidents that occurred that day that required immediate attention. Powell said firemen received three calls in a row; one being a man involved in a rollover accident who reported that the wind blew his car off Hwy. 70 South. He experienced no injuries. The other call was concerning a small grass fire.

A fund for Vorheis has been set up at Donley County State Bank. The community’s support for her through this difficult time is deeply appreciated.

“The community has really been wonderful,” Vorheis said. “I would like to thank everyone for their love, concern and prayers.”