Published Thursday, July 18, 2002
drives family from home
Herald Staff Writer
A Sharon woman was nearly overwhelmed by smoke when she tried to put out a fire in her bedroom Wednesday morning.
Beverly Martell, 595 Sherman Ave., said she tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher but the smoke was too much for her. "I couldn't breathe," she said.
Mrs. Martell said she and three of her children were downstairs when she heard the smoke detector sounding but she didn't smell smoke. She said she ran upstairs, opened her bedroom door and saw a small fire and a lot of black smoke.
"I thought I could put it out. It didn't look like a big fire," Mrs. Martell said.
After being driven back by the smoke, she called 911. Sharon firefighters responded at 9:47 a.m. They said the fire started next to a wall in the bedroom. Its cause was undetermined this morning.
Firefighters said the best thing to do when confronted by fire is to call 911 right away and not try to put the fire out yourself. It's not the size of the fire but the smoke that is dangerous, they said.
Firefighters found a photo album in Mrs. Martell's bedroom that was not badly damaged. "I can't replace that," she said. The album contained pictures of her husband Charlie who died in October, she said.
"Luckily they had that bedroom door closed," Firefighter Charles Perry said. He said it kept the flames from spreading.
Mrs. Martell said everyone got out safely and the family has somewhere to stay if the house too damaged to live in and insurance to cover any damage.
Mrs. Martell said she also got some turtles and gerbils out of the house.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharon-herald.com