Photos/Story By Linda Orth Schnobrich
What started out to be a normal day in Waconia, a small town of 5,000 about 25 miles west of Minneapolis, became anything but ordinary on October 2.
In a neighborhood of homes, all built within the last five years, a fire erupted in a garage that eventually engulfed the entire home. A passerby, Bill Brown, was driving down a local street about 3 p.m. and happened to look back through his rearview window and saw flames shooting from a garage. He ran back to the house, finding the garage door open.
To his horror, he found flames shooting up inside the garage on the wall abutting the house. He ran to the front door, pounded on the door and alerted a woman inside, Dorothy Miller, telling her to call 911. As she was dialing, he ran back to his truck, and brought back a small fire extinguisher. As he headed toward the garage, however, it was apparent a small fire extinguisher would not be enough. The entire wall was on fire and the flames were shooting well into the rafters above the garage door.
He ran back to the house to get Ms. Miller and a two year old girl out of the house. Taking the phone from Miller, he described the situation to the 911 operator. According the Brown, the smoke was so thick by that time, all he could do was grab the two occupants and move them away from the house. Miller said later until Brown alerted her, she had no idea there was a fire.
There was a vehicle in the garage and one in the driveway. They quickly caught fire and the sounds of loud booms erupting the area, later determined to have been tires exploding. There was a larger explosion, when the electrical box was burned.
The Waconia Fire Department was on the scene within minutes and had water on the fire almost immediately. However, they were hampered by 20-25 mph southwest winds that spread the fire throughout the house before they arrived. As some firefighters positioned themselves in front of the house, others hosed down the house next door to prevent it from catching fire.
The heat of the fire was so intense, it melted the vinyl siding on the house across the street, approximately 50 feet away. At one point over 100 people, neighbors and many high school students, who had just left school, watched in disbelief and sadness as the Jennifer and Gedric Merritt house burned to the ground in the middle of the day. Jennifer returned to her home shortly after 3 p.m. to find a firefighter comforting her aunt and child and her home completely gone.
Fire Chief Randy Sorenson and Carver County Chief Deputy Denny Owens called Brown a hero and expressed his profound relief that Miller and the two year old child, Mackenzie Merritt were safe. The family dog, found later in the basement, was taken to a veterinarian, but later died of smoke related injuries.
A firefighter was treated for a knee injury that may have happened when he fell near a window well. Brown was treated for smoke inhalation.
Cause of the fire was determined due to an improperly extinguished cigarette, but has been ruled accidental. Although there were working fire alarms in the home, they did not alert Miller to the situation. Brown estimated the house was fully engulfed within five minutes.
The family is staying with family in the area. They plan to rebuild in the same location as soon as they are able.
