Fire heavily damages home near Bear Creek

BEAR CREEK   - A Bear Creek family is blessed to have each other after coming home on New Year’s Eve ,Tuesday, Dec. 31, to find their home on fire.
“I came home from work at noon, and I saw smoke coming out of the eaves of the house,” said Allen Whitman, who is co-owner of K&C Manufacturing.
Whitman’s wife, Gena, had taken the younger of their children, C.J. and Charity with her to the store earlier that day, so no one was home when the fire broke out.
The couple's older son, Andrew, rushed home from work at K&C when he received news of the fire. Another daughter, Tasha, was not home at the time of the fire.
“That was my worry coming over here, if they were in the house,” Andrew said.
The three-alarm fire brought response from the Bear Creek Fire Department, which received assistance from Haleyville and Hackleburg firefighters.
Also responding to monitor the condition of firefighters in their heavy sets of turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus were medics with Regional Paramedical Service Ambulance.
Bear Creek Firefighter Andy Marbutt appeared to have suffered from a mild case of heat exhaustion, and was monitored by a medic with RPS, but soon was fine.
Firefighters made an interior attack, going in and out of the residence, making sure the fire was under control before using exhaust fans to draw smoke from the residence.
Firefighters from all three departments worked in shifts battling the blaze to bring it under control.
It appeared that smoke damage was extensive throughout the residence.
Whitman noted the main point was that the family still had each other, and that material possessions can be replaced.