Henderson, Bradshaw, and Hampton Fire Departments all responded to an early morning fire in Henderson after 2 a.m. and worked hard to extinguish it – photo courtesy Chief John Prusia
Early this morning, sometime before 2 a.m., a fire began at Brandon Kembel’s home at 1111 Maple Street in Henderson. It’s located just east of the Living Hope Church parking lot and was completely engulfed in flames when the Henderson Fire Department responded to the call.
Henderson Police Chief John Prusia arrived at the scene around 2:15 a.m. and said 20-30-foot flames were coming out of the house. He was awakened when someone began pounding and yelling at his door. As soon as he opened the door, he could see and smell the fire nearby. He arrived on the scene and immediately called David May, the Henderson Fire Department Assistant Chief. May told him they had just received the page and were ready to head to the fire.
Shelby Hurlbut was the one who had alerted Chief Prusia about the fire, and she tells the remarkable story of how she first discovered the fire at Kembel’s home, which happens to be her uncle’s.
“I woke up around 2 a.m. smelling something like a bonfire since I had left my bedroom window open. Being a single mom, I was a bit paranoid, so I woke up my younger sister, who was spending the night with me, and we went around and checked all the outlets in the house,” she said.
She had recently moved back to Henderson with her daughter about two weeks ago and was renting a house on 12th Street several blocks south of her uncle’s house. When she looked outside, it seemed foggy, so she decided to take what she thought would be a quick lap around town to see if everything was okay.
“I just had this gut feeling that it was more than fog I was seeing,” said Shelby. She looped around near where her parents live and noticed a clear wall of smoke on one side of Main Street. She saw no activity at the Henderson Fire Station, so she drove by the Henderson swimming pool.
“It was at the pool that I could see a clear view of an orange glow on the north side of town. I headed that way, and as I rounded the corner, I could see my uncle’s house up in flames except for the west side. The fire was coming out of the garage, the front porch was nonexistent, and at that point, I had no idea if my uncle was inside the house or not!”
She hadn’t taken her phone, so she went door to door, trying to wake someone up for help. Finally, Marty Lyons, a neighbor across the street, came running out of his house and began trying to call 911. She and Marty went to the rear of the house and realized it was too dangerous to try opening the door.
“I decided then that I should instead get help. Marty was still trying to reach 911 and began trying to wake up the next-door neighbors while I ran over to Chief Prusia’s house, which is nearby.” While she was gone, Marty tried knocking out a window and attempted to gain access to the garage to see if Kembel’s pickup was inside the garage, Shelby said.
It wasn’t until later that she discovered her uncle was not in the house. According to Shelby, he was able to escape the fire, grab his dog Annie, and drive away in his pickup.
“He suffered severe smoke inhalation, which can cause confusion, and we think he was trying to drive himself to the York hospital. Unfortunately, he passed out and wrecked on I-80. He was transported to the York Hospital, where he was then life-flighted to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln,” said Shelby.
According to Chief Prusia, the State Fire Marshal will investigate the possible cause of the fire. The Henderson Fire Department was also assisted by the Bradshaw and Hampton Fire Departments. He said there was a delay in getting the 911 call through because the system was overloaded with too many calls at that time.
Brandon and Tiffanee Ogorzolka have set up an account at Henderson Cornerstone Bank for any donations to help the family.
