A woman and her five children were displaced after their home west of Milford caught fire in the early morning hours of July 4.
Milford Volunteer Fire Chief Travis Fougeron said one man, Alex Gurnsey, was home around 12:30 a.m., when the house at 561 322nd Road began burning. The man was able to get out of the house, and additional family members showed up later.
In an email to the Milford Times and Seward County Independent July 6, Amanda Gurnsey said she and her five daughters were living in the house at the time of the fire.
“I was awakened out of a dead sleep to the fire alarms going off,” Amanda Gurnsey said.
Gurnsey said she took two children out of the house, went back inside for two more and then made another trip in for the fifth child.
“When I tried to go in for valuables, it was too late,” Gurnsey said.
She said she called 911 more than five times, drove the children to a neighbor’s house and then returned to the scene of the fire.
Fougeron said Beaver Crossing Fire and Rescue transported one person to a hospital for smoke inhalation, but there were no other injuries.
“Beaver Crossing was there for mutual aid. We greatly appreciated them being there,” he said.
Though an official cause had not yet been released from the fire marshal, Fougeron said they believe fireworks were to blame.
“There was a wood pile on the south side of the house that we think something exploded and got in there,” he said. “The wind kicked it up and caught the south side of the house on fire.”
A phone call and email to Amanda Gurnsey were unreturned.
