Fire causes significant damage to family home

WORLAND – Coming home and noticing smoke coming out of your house is a terrifying experience, an experience that Charlene Sherman and her children experienced Friday evening around 5:21 p.m., upon returning to their home located at 1004 Culbertson Ave., in Worland.

After Worland Volunteer Fire Department put the fire out Sherman stated that since her children were OK, the material things lost, were just that and that they can be replaced, no matter how important they may have seemed.

Worland Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Kocher stated that 15 firefighters responded to the scene along with two engines and a ladder truck to fight the fire, which was caused by an electrical failure in the baseboard heater. Crews stayed until around 9:13 p.m. to make sure the scene was secure and to investigate the cause.

Kocher stated there is significant damage to the room in which the fire started and the kitchen where the fire moved to. Smoke damage is found throughout the house, upstairs and downstairs, along with water damage.

Red Cross was contacted that evening and they stepped up to help, along with Sherman’s insurance company. At this time the family is unable to obtain any items from the home until insurance adjusters make it out to the property. Sherman and her children have been put into a motel and alternate housing is being sought.

Sherman would like to thank her thoughtful neighbors who brought her children toys, blankets and hot cocoa while the fire was being fought.