Hot grease from a propane-fueled deep fryer is believed to be the cause of a blaze that destroyed two buildings and left more than 20 people homeless Wednesday.
Princeton Fire and Rescue units received a report of a fire at the Robertson Lumber Company building and its adjoining apartment complex on the 400 block of Cadiz Street shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Fire Chief Brent Francis knew the situation was grim before he even arrived on the scene.
“When I came down West Main Street, I couldn’t even see the senior center for the smoke,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this much smoke from a fire.”
The smoke rose in great pillaring clouds that could be seen from as far away as the Cadiz Road exit on Interstate 24, 10 miles away.
The property is owned by Marlin Robertson, who was deep-frying a turkey in a storage area inside the lumber company building when the fire broke out.
Francis said water in the frozen bird converted to steam when it hit the oil in the fryer, causing the grease to blow out of the fryer and ignite.
The room, he noted, contained several supplies left over from the lumber business, including numerous paint cans, rolls of felt and other chemicals and combustibles.
The first reports firefighters received after being dispatched indicated the building was already fully involved, with fire through the roof of the building.
The occupants of the five apartments connected to the building had little time to react.
Mark Towery was at home with his mother, sister and two infant nephews.
“I put my pants and jacket on; I didn’t even have time to get my boots,” he said, standing barefoot in the cool morning air as firefighters fought the blaze.
“We got out of the apartment, and the smoke was so bad, we could not even see to get out of the yard … I’m just glad we made it out, because that was real scary.”
One of Towery’s nephews, just over a month old, was transported to Caldwell Medical Center for possible smoke inhalation.
A few other residents were also transported, most for smoke inhalation.
Another tenant, an adult female, was airlifted from the medical center to Western Baptist Hospital for a heart-related issue, investigators said.
All the apartments’ occupants were out of the building when firefighters arrived, Francis said.
Neighbors in and around the complex helped their fellow occupants — 23 people in all — to safety outside the building.
“Some people ran into a wooden fence twice, there was that much smoke,” the chief said. “It was just a harrowing ordeal for the occupants here.”
An open storage area that ran the full length of the building provided the air and the fuel for the fire to erupt quickly.
Firefighters made entry into the building, set up an aerial truck and used a piercing nozzle to try and fight back the blaze, but the building’s composition proved resistant to those efforts.
“This lumber yard has been added onto and modified and renovated,” said the chief. “There was metal roofs over asphalt roofs, and fire in all of it.”
The fire also spread to a neighboring building, a large metal warehouse owned by Max Arnold and Sons.
That building contained five 55-gallon drums of gasoline, as well as a number of plastic signs, hoses, oil tanks and other fuel-related equipment.
Firefighters used a city backhoe to open a section of the wall to get the gas drums out and prevent them from rupturing or exploding.
If they had, gasoline or fire could have spread to the company’s bulk storage tanks a short distance away, downhill from the blaze. “There was a definite danger,” Francis said.
The fire was contained by midday Wednesday, and most of the local engines involved left the scene at about 2:45 p.m.
Firefighters returned to the scene multiple times that day as hot spots broke out in the ruins of the building.
The fire department was assisted by numerous other emergency personnel during the day.
Firefighters from Farmersville, Fredonia, Dawson Springs, Eddyville and Kuttawa all provided aid at the scene.
Three Madisonville firefighters familiar with the local heavy rescue truck stood by at the fire station in case of any other calls during the day.
“We were going to be here for so many hours, and we just didn’t have the people to send,” the chief said.
Francis expressed thanks to those agencies, as well as the local EMS personnel. “Our EMS folks did a fantastic job of tending all the occupants that lived here,” he said.
• The building’s tenants were left with little but the clothes on their backs Wednesday, but numerous individuals and community agencies are stepping up to provide immediate and long-term aid.
Local American Red Cross volunteer Carroll Boyd was contacted by Jeanie Barnett, coordinator of the Red Cross’s Mid-West Kentucky chapter, in the early stages of the fire Wednesday.
Boyd and a group of about seven other volunteers from Princeton and Hopkinsville responded.
The group provided food, water and hot beverages to the firefighters on the scene and made contact with the tenants displaced by the fire.
Clothing and food were distributed, and arrangements were made for up to three nights’ motel lodging for those who needed a place to stay.
Boyd and Francis cited the efforts of several local businesses and organizations to assist the victims and emergency responders, including Walmart, McDonald’s, Max Fuel, Food Giant and Southside Baptist Church.
Several individuals also provided blankets or clothing from their own closets to aid victims left in the cold.
“We can’t give them back their homes and possessions, but we can make it a little better,” said Boyd.
• The Caldwell/Lyon Baptist Association is accepting financial donations and handling referrals for donations of furniture and other items.
The Rev. Rick Reeder, director of missions for the association, said any donations collected will go directly to the victims.
Those wishing to donate can contact the association office at (270) 365-9919 or e-mail clbaptist@bellsouth.net, he said.
Those calling or e-mailing should leave their names and contact information.
