By David Slone
Times-Union
SILVER LAKE – Thanks to her sense of smell, and a passing truck driver, a Silver Lake woman escaped a house fire early Friday morning.
Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Conley said his department was called out to the house fire on CR 1200S, Silver Lake, at around 5 a.m. Friday.
When they arrived, the home was fully engulfed and burning through the roof. A vehicle in front of the house also caught fire.
The home is about three-fourths of a mile east of Ind. 15, and a trucker called in to dispatch what looked like fire and smoke, Conley said when asked who reported the fire.
A woman in the house was asleep but woke up to a smell. When she opened her bedroom door, she saw smoke and flames in the kitchen and living room.
“She was able to get out on her own, but the dog did not,” Conley said. “I’m glad the trucker called it in and she woke up. Otherwise, it might have been a fatality.”
The woman’s daughter and grandson came over to help her and the American Red Cross was also contacted to assist.
Assisting Silver Lake were the Sidney and Claypool fire departments and Parkview EMS.
Conley said the home was a total loss and the woman lost everything in the fire.
County records indicate Glen and Effie Allen own the property.
