Official site of Tribune News serving Tomball, Magnolia and Waller

The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) has received a federal grant to purchase top of the line smoke detectors for area residents.

The department will receive more than $70,000 from the federal government to purchase the detectors, through a FEMA fire prevention safety grant. The grant, which is funded 75 percent by FEMA and 25 percent by the MVFD, means that the total amount will add up to more than $88,000.

"Since it is a share grant we have to kick in 25 percent, which will be a little less than $18,000," said MVFD assistant chief Rusty Griffith.

The grant will allow the department to purchase 2,000 units with 10-year lithium batteries, plus an additional 500 batteries.

According to Griffith, 20 percent of homes with smoke detectors have units that do not work, while four percent of homes do not have a smoke detector at all. He said the risk of a fire related death or injury greatly decreases in homes with working detectors.

"Our goal is to have at least one working unit in each home in the district," he said. "It greatly improves the chance of survival."

He said he hopes to have the process completed by the end of the year, so that by the beginning of 2013 they will be ready to hand out the units. Once MVFD receives the final go ahead from FEMA they will request bids to purchase the detectors. He estimated that within 12-18 months the department will have handed out the units and completed the program.

Griffith said the department was thrilled to receive the grant, because it is a competitive process.

"You don't always expect to get a competitive grant," he said.

The district, which covers 165 square miles and serves nearly 70,000 people, runs strictly off paid part-time staffing and volunteers. Last year they answered almost 4,000 calls. With a limited staff and budget constraints, fire prevention is key to the department.

"We will target areas where our fire deaths occur first," Griffith said, adding that the department will come and install the units for free.

To secure one of the free 10-year smoke detectors, Griffith said be on the lookout for an announcement on the departments web page at magnoliafire.org. For more information call 281-356-3288.

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A young boy was found dead by Magnolia firefighters, after a large house fire Dec. 8.

Fire officials identified the boy as Dakota Myers, 3, of Magnolia. He was found in a back bedroom of a travel trailer that had been converted into a permanent residence.

The fire started at the home on Todd Road, just after 1 a.m. Firefighters responded within minutes and tried to rescue the boy, but heavy fire conditions forced them out of the residence. Family members had also tried to rescue the boy, but were unable due to heavy smoke and fire.

The travel trailer had a wooden addition built onto it.

A 10-year-old boy and an adult were treated at the scene by Montgomery County Hospital District emergency workers for smoke inhalation.

“The first arriving Magnolia Fire Department units found that the fire had fully engulfed the travel trailer and addition built on to it,” a Montgomery County Fire Marshal press release stated. “The fire was so intense that no search was possible until it was brought under control.”

The 10-year-old boy was sleeping when the fire broke out. He told fire investigators that he woke up to find the fire in an area where Dakota Myers has been sleeping.

The boy’s mother stated that she was outside of her next door neighbor’s home with several other people when they saw the fire. Family members and neighbors ran to the home, but were unable to get inside. The 10-year-old boy was able to escape the home.

Fire officials said the investigations into the cause of the fire and Myers cause of death are still ongoing. They are awaiting additional test results.

They have yet to find evidence that the home was equipped with working smoke detectors.

“Each year approximately 3,000 lives are lost to fire in the United States with 85 percent of the deaths occurring in home fire,” fire officials stated. “The common theme in nearly all fatal fires is that they break out while the residents are asleep and there are no working smoke detectors.”

Although Montgomery County averages five to six fire deaths a year, this is the first fire fatality of 2012.

His name is Smokey.

A fitting name, considering the miracle dog was found alive by firefighters inside the smoldering remains of a Pinehurst home that burned down around him on Valentine's Day.

Firefighters found the dog breathing shallowly, but he only had a small burn above his eye. They quickly administered oxygen to the dog and called workers from Paws to Claws Veterinary Clinic in Magnolia to take the dog for emergency treatment.

"He was in bad shape," said Rhonda Lankford, an employee of the clinic who picked up the dog. "He was dehydrated, full of chemicals and had suffered from extreme smoke inhalation."

It was so bad that he was only taking about 40 breaths per minute – a very shallow rate for an active dog.

Lankford rushed Smokey to the clinic where her boss, Dr. Suzanne Knoop Scott, began treatment and placed the dog in their intensive care unit. The owner of the home that burned claimed the dog was just a stray that they fed, but that was the opening the staff needed to begin aggressively treating Smokey, in order to save him. By law they cannot treat a dog without an owner's permission.

For the first few days the prognosis was iffy. Smokey would just fall over when he tried to walk and was very thin. Suddenly though, the dog began to show marked improvements.

While he is a quiet dog, he is extremely loving and friendly, Lankford said. She said the improvement is remarkable and could be considered miraculous.

"He's bright and alert," Lankford said. "He's 100 percent better. Sometimes they just have a will to survive."

While Smokey is heartworm positive, Scott believes that it isn't too severe and can be treated with preventative medicine, while his body recovers from the effects of the fire.

Heartworms are not contagious to either animals or humans.

"He has to get fully recovered from the smoke inhalation before we can do the full treatment for the heartworms.

He could also stand to gain a few more pounds she said.

While Smokey is still recovering, it doesn't mean he has to stay too much longer at the clinic. He's only on oral medications and Scott said he could go home in about a week – that is if he had a home to go to.

With no one claiming the dog and a lack of space at the clinic, the staff is afraid they may have to turn Smokey over to animal control, at which point he could be euthanized within three days.

Area no-kill shelters are full and the doctor and her staff are frantically searching for a new home for Smokey.

Considering what the dog survived, it would be heartbreaking to many if he had to be put down, simply because he didn't have a home to go to.

If you are interested in helping provide Smokey with a new home, contact the staff at Paws to Claws Veterinary Care at 281-356-2384.

A large home near Stagecoach caught fire the morning of Feb. 25, causing problems for firefighters as high winds caused it to rapidly spread.

The house fire, just behind a convenience store on Stagecoach Road, gutted most of the home, as Magnolia firefighters battled it for several hours.

"No one was hurt or injured in the fire," said Magnolia Fire Chief Gary Vincent. "The size impacted the way we had to fight the fire. Fireground operations lasted several hours, including salvage and recovery of some of the homeowner's belongings."

Vincent said that the department called in several other departments to provide aid, once the fire escalated into a multiple alarm fire.

"High winds helped to drive the fire throughout much of the home and the attic had 2-by-6 beams, which made it difficult to access," he said.

Vincent said that while the fire was spreading rapidly throughout the home, they were able to save another building on the property, as well as keep the fire from spreading to nearby trees and pastures.

"There was one exposure building we were able to save," he said.

He also said that part of the home was able to be saved as well.

"I believe part of the home was able to be salvaged," he said. "We used protective covers to save numerous items of furniture from fire, smoke and water damage."

Several witnesses nearby said it looked as if the fire started in a vehicle in the driveway. That vehicle was completely burned in the home's driveway, as fire marshals began their investigation into the cause.

Vincent and Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams both said that the cause of the fire was still undetermined.

Williams said he expects the investigation to be wrapped up within the next week or so.

Firefighters were able to safe the outside of a home gutted by fire in Tomball last week. The home, located at the intersection of Carrell and Peach streets, was ravaged by a fire that started in the garage.

"We were able to stop it as it got into the kitchen," said Tomball Fire Marshal Doug Sanguedolce. "The living room was completely destroyed."

Fire officials said that up to four people were inside the home, as well as two dogs, but all were able to get out safely.

Sanguedolce believes that about 80 percent of the home was damaged and that many of the bedrooms received some heat and smoke damage. Firefighters from Tomball, Spring, Klein and Magnolia spent about four hours at the scene.

Sanguedolce said heavy wind gusts played havoc with firefighters, as they scrambled to put the fire out.

"The wind just blew the fire right into the living room from the garage," he said.

He said that initial investigations point to an electrical fire.

"We are probably looking at some type of electrical short at this point," he said.

Sanguedolce said that he believes at this point that the short might have been caused by the garage door opener, which he said was at least 10-15 years old.

The residents of the home had insurance and fire officials will assist them in getting help if they need it.

"We referred them to several local resources," Sanguedolce said.

A family home in Montgomery County is a complete loss, after fire officials say that unattended cooking led to a massive fire, over Labor Day weekend.

Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams said that the fire started when the family left some items cooking and forgot about them.

“The homeowner was preparing to cook and went to a different part of the house and said they forgot about it,” he said. “It started in the kitchen and then spread into the rest of the home.”

The home, a large two-story home, is located on Johlke Lane near Decker Prarie Road.

Magnolia Fire Chief Gary Vincent said the fire spread quickly and they called in help from the Tomball and Rosehill fire departments.

Williams said the homeowners have insurance.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.