Blaze devastates Summerville home

The home of Charles and Peggy Frizzell on Behrens Lane near Summerville was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon. Six fire departments rendered mutual aid, but the century-old house was a total loss. The Frizzells and their grandson T.J. Ruth were in the house when the fire started, but escaped without injury. TRISH YERGES photo

Bad weather made it tough for firefighters

 Peggy Frizzell said she first noticed smoke coming up from the floor below the wood stove.  The stove stands on a rock slab, yet there seemed to be a fire underneath it, she said.

So she took a hose and tried to hose down the smoke by herself but without success. She then called for help.

 “The call came in at 4:55 p.m. by the home owner,” said Imbler Fire Chief Mike Barry.  "We were there in 10 minutes.  The fire seemed to originate below the wood stove. It was in an inaccessible crawl space.  When it got into the walls, the wind took it and went with it."

 In addition to 10 volunteer Imbler fire fighters, fire fighters from Elgin, La Grande Rural Fire Protection District, Cove, La Grande City and North Powder answered the mutual aid call.

The south wind seemed to help direct the flames away from a nearby barn filled with hay.

 “We called La Grande City in and tenders from North Powder and Cove," said Barry.  We ran out of water a couple of times.”

Jim Voelz of the La Grande Rural Fire Protection District said the weather was a challenge for firefighters to overcome.

“There were strong winds, heavy rain. It was a miserable night,” Voelz said.

Peggy, her husband Charles,  and their grandson T.J. Ruth were at home at the time of the fire.

 The Frizzell home was built in the 1800s when the Frizzells settled in Summerville. Since then, four generations of Frizzells had lived there.

“The house is insured, but I lost a lot of my antiques,” said Peggy.

The fire was brought under control about 1 a.m. this morning. The Frizzells stayed the night with their close friends, Gary and Shari Webb of Summerville. 

Peggy said her family will probably move into her mother's home in Imbler while they clean up and rebuild their century old homestead.

Observer reporter Bill Rautenstrauch contributed to this report.