County Road 1818 Woman
Photos and Story by Dwight Hayes
Flames and a massive smoke cloud billow from this County Road 1818 home as firefighters begin to attack the blaze. Arab Today photos by Dwight Hayes
Fire spreads quickly through the one story frame home of Dorotha Faulkner on Sunday morning. Arab Today photos by Dwight Hayes
Firefighters begin the grim search of the burned out Faulkner home as they search for Dorotha Faulkner. Arab Today photos by Dwight Hayes
June 20,
2010 - By Dwight Hayes
A fire that broke out Sunday morning
claimed the life of an 89 year old Arab woman. Dorotha (Bea)
Faulkner of 622 County Road 1818 (May Apple Road) was trapped in the
burning building and died along with two pets. Firefighters located
Mrs. Faulkner's body in a front bedroom of the home around 1 pm. Her
dog and cat were located near the entrance to the bedroom. Three
other family members who were also in the house at the time of the
fire managed to escape injury.
Firefighters were called to the single story dwelling around 9:00 a.m. Heavy flames were already engulfing the building as firefighters arrived. At least two of the first Arab firefighters to arrive on the scene entered the burning building through a bedroom window but were driven back by the intense heat and smoke.
Fire fighting efforts were hampered by the lack of a ready supply of water and the high heat and humidity. Water had to be shuttled to the home by local tankers and engine companies until a line could be laid to a hydrant several thousand feet away. A narrow driveway leading to the home also hampered fire engines from being able to quickly reach the home. Fire fighters had to cut two fences to create a makeshift access road across a pasture.
In addition to the high heat from the fire, firefighters had to deal with a heat index hovering around 100. The high heat and humidity caused several of the firefighters to be overcome with heat exhaustion. Several had to be treated on the scene with IV therapy and at least two were transported to Marshall Medical Center North. One of those transported to the hospital sustained a broken hand while battling the blaze.
The Faulkner home was located approximately 30 feet inside Cullman County. Investigators from the Arab Fire Department, Cullman County Sheriff's Office, Alabama State Fire Marshall's Office and the Cullman County Coroner are investigating the cause of the fire. Investigators will continue the investigation on Monday after the ashes and debris have cooled.
Arab Fire and Rescue was assisted by several local volunteer fire departments. Units and personnel from Joppa, Baileyton, Holly Pond, Tri-County, Oden Ridge. Guntersville Fire assisted Arab by sending a truck and personnel from their station to man the Arab station during the extended call. Fire fighters were on the scene for more than 6 hours.
EMS support for the firefighters was furnished by medics from Marshall Medical Center North and Cullman Regional Medical Center. The American Red Cross office out of Cullman assisted with food, ice, and cold drinks to the exhausted firefighters. At least 30 firefighters were on scene to fight the blaze and to help with search and recovery efforts.
Joppa firefighter Max Miller, kneeling on the grass, was one of several firefighters overcome by the severe heat and humidity as they fought the blaze.
Early on firefighters were hampered by a lack of water and were forced to focus the use of the available water on rescue efforts.
Firefighters from several local departments work as a team to fight the Sunday morning blaze.
A large portion of the home was totally destroyed by the fire.
Firefighters gather around Arab Fire & Rescue Captain Jerry Holmes to view a diagram of the burned out home and to map out a plan for searching the remaining portions of the home. Holmes, who lives next door to the Faulkner home was off duty when the fire broke out. He was the first firefighter on the scene.
The fire completely destroyed the kitchen and garage area of the home. Arab Engine 2, in the background, was the first truck on the scene.
This is the scene that greeted firefighters as they arrived on the scene of the Sunday morning fire.