Man rescued from burning mobile home

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Lincoln Journal Star

Five people helped rescue a man from a burning mobile home late Saturday night.

The victim of the house fire in north Lincoln was taken to Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center to be treated for burns and cuts after he was pulled from a window, according to Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Sellon.

Firefighters were called to 209 Belmont Ave. at 9:29 p.m. Saturday. The fire was under control at 9:50, but the house was a total loss, Sellon said.

The identity of the victim was not released and the cause of the fire had yet to be determined Saturday night.

The mobile home is in northwest Lincoln, three blocks north of Cornhusker Highway and just east of North First Street.

Four friends heard glass shattering while they were outside in the mobile home park taking a smoke break. A fire inspector said a fifth man also helped at the scene.

John Kennett, 35, ran to the home and saw the male occupant trying to break through a window on the side of the trailer.

“I didn’t even think about it,” Kennett said.

Kennett’s three friends joined him in trying to help the man through the window, but there was still glass in it, so they pushed him back in and cleared out the glass as Kennett ran to the front of the trailer.

“We came over and helped him finish breaking the glass out,” said Jason Ahrens, 37.

Ahrens put his coat over the window and with the help of Matthew Perry, 36, and Shaun Lange, 37,  reached inside and pulled the now unconscious victim out.

Meanwhile, Kennett said he kicked open the front door, but shut it quickly when he saw flames shoot across the roof.

While the men were running around the trailer to be sure no one else was trapped, the victim regained consciousness and said he was the only one at home.

Judy Foster, 73, who lives two doors away from the trailer, called 911 when she saw the flames. As she watched, smoke from the fire set off the smoke alarms in her house.

Another neighbor, Gaylene Johnson, 46, said she worries about fires because of the gas lines and the close proximity of the trailers.

“Living here, this scares me,” she said.