Family rescued from house fire tells story

CANAL WINCHESTER – Josh Coyle and Jessica Moore know how close they were to perishing in a fire that consumed their house from the attic down.

At one point Moore was gasping for air and asking "How much longer?" over and over to 911 call dispatchers. She had lost hope.

"I kept saying 'Babe, we're going to die,'" she said.

There were a total of six people sleeping in the house when the fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. June 1. John and Leisa Marcum were sleeping on the first floor of the single-story ranch home, 829 Groveport Road, along with their 9-month-old granddaughter (Coyle's daughter), Jolene Reynolds; and the Marcums' 4-year-old foster child, Damien Evans. Moore and Coyle were in a bedroom in the basement, with a staircase leading up near the garage where the fire originated.

Although it's been just more than a month since the fire, Leisa still struggles to recall the moments when Coyle and Moore were trapped in the basement, taking large breaks between every spoken sentence.

"I did a lot of praying. I did a lot of praying," Leisa said, tearing up. "I don't know, I just wanted them. It just wasn't going fast enough for me ... and they wouldn't even let me near them ... I thought they were dead."

No warning

The house was quiet when it was burning around them as the family slept. The dog didn't bark. The smoke detectors weren't beeping — not yet, anyway.

Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Bates said the fire and how it spread was unique. It originated somewhere in the garage, which is attached to the house, traveled up the side of the house and into the attic. Once the fire was up in the attic, Bates said a window or something failed, stoking the fire, giving it all the oxygen it wanted to spread.

"That's why they were were able to be in the home and never know what was going on," Bates said.

Bates said they have no idea how long the fire was burning before the alarms started to sound. He could only guess that it was "an extended period of time."

The smoke detectors didn't start to beep until the smoke and fire had consumed the attic and went through the ceiling.

Bates said the family had their bedroom doors closed, which helped.

"In a way, that was their saving grace because they were in survivable area," he said.

Without that, he said the smoke could have consumed their rooms and they never would have made it out.

The home is one-tenth of a mile from the fire station. The call was dispatched around 5:30 a.m. and Bates said it took three minutes for crews to arrive on the scene. For neighbors watching the blaze and the Marcums, who made it out of the house, knowing Coyle and Moore were trapped in the basement, three minutes felt like a lifetime.

Pitch black

The beeping of smoke detectors awoke John and Leisa Marcum at the same time.

By that time, the smoke was hanging half way down from the ceiling and the basement door was blocked by flames.

They both acted quickly, getting the children out of their rooms on the first floor and out the front door.

Leisa picked up Jolene out of her crib and got out of the house first. John, carrying Damien, came out second, barely making it out.

"The ceiling of the living room was collapsing as they came out the front door," Bates said.

The house was already considered "fully involved."

Coyle and Moore were downstairs sleeping when Moore heard the smoke detector beeping through a baby monitor in Jolene's room.

"She woke me up from a dead sleep," Coyle said. "She was screaming. I'd never heard her scream at all ... I thought it was a small fire, like an oven fire that I could put out myself."

"If she wasn't there, I wouldn't have woken up," he said.

When Coyle went up the basement steps, however, he could see the flames under the door and that putting out the fire or even escaping the basement was out of the question.

Coyle kept banging on their bedroom door to let fire crews know that they were alive and where they were located in the basement.

"The power went out and there was no windows in the basement, so it was pitch black," Moore said.

While the power was out because the electrical lines had melted off the back of the house, Moore and Coyle didn't have to see the smoke to know it was filling the room and their lungs.

"The scariest part was when the baby monitor stopped working and all you could hear was static," Moore recalled.

Coyle and Moore faded in and out of consciousness at different times. Both of them were on the phone with 911, with dispatchers telling them to get down on the floor and to put damp cloths over their mouths if possible.

Recovery

The last thing Coyle remembers before passing out was the sound of a chainsaw, which was actually the crew cutting through the side of the house and the first floor to rescue Moore. He also felt water dripping from a vent, which he knew was a sign that help was close.

Fire crews split up to battle the flames and rescue the couple.

The first crew rescued Moore through a hole in the floor of the room near where the family's dog had died, still lying in his bed. Leisa said their dog, a boxer, originally had come out the house with her because he sleeps at the foot of their bed, but went back in before John had gotten out of the house. She said she yelled for him, but the dog didn't come back out.

Coyle was rescued by a different crew, which fought the fire down on the left side of the house at the top of the basement stairs. Bates said the door and frame were destroyed, but the stairway — which Coyle was brought up through — still was intact.

Moore woke up in the hospital from an almost dream-like state, but with no dream. It took her a few seconds to remember what had happened and she immediately started to question where Jolene was.

"I kept spelling out 'baby' in the nurse's hand because I was intubated and couldn't talk," she said.

Moore had severe smoke inhalation and was in the hospital for four days. Coyle also had smoke inhalation, scrapes and minor burns on his body. He was released the next day.

Coyle and Moore have been told numerous times how lucky they are to be alive.

It's the first time Bates' 32-year career that hes experienced a fire and rescue mission quite like this one.

"This is a once-in-a-career fire," he said.

Simple things

Few items survived the flames. Everything closest to where the fire originated was destroyed. Even though it's been more than a month since the blaze, there is still a distinct smell of a house fire that lingers in the air.

Leisa said the insurance adjuster, who recently inspected their home, brought out two blackened baby blankets, Leisa's wedding dress and the Marcums' wedding rings.

They aren't sure what else, if anything, is salvageable, but in the meantime they find themselves missing something as simple as hangers for their clothes, utensils to cook with, other supplies and belongings that actually are theirs.

The family is living in a rental home with rented furniture and items friends, family and strangers have donated to them. A lot of clothing was donated to the family and toys for the children, but they still have some difficulty with daily tasks.

Leisa and Moore said they got a pair of scissors that were packaged, but they needed scissors to open the package.

A GoFundMe.com account was created, which helped with a down payment for a new vehicle because all of their vehicles were destroyed in the fire.

Leisa, whose prayers were answered the morning she asked God to save her family, now is thankful for the love and generosity of everyone who has helped them.

"I wish I could just give them all a hug," she said.

sroush@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4342

Twitter: @SpencerRoushLEG

DONATE

The Marcum family still is in need of some items, specifically kitchen-related items and towels. To donate to this family, drop off items between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays at the Eagle-Gazette office, 138 W. Chestnut St., Lancaster. Donations will be accepted through July 10.

For monetary donations to the Marcum family, go to RedBasket.org, a free crowdsourcing website. Their online project is titled "Help the Marcums Rebuild." Donations can also be made to any Chase Bank locations into the "Leisa Marcum Donation Account."

There also will be a silent auction held for the family from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Canal Winchester Community Center, 22 S. Trine St. To donate items for the silent auction, email KennyKees@yahoo.com.