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Photo by George Lauby
Lincoln County Emergency Manager Dan Guenthner studies the situation.
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Photo by George Lauby
Larry Lee Britton
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Photo by George Lauby
The back of the house. The fire began in the kitchen, at right. (click on photos to enlarge.)
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Photo by Kaycee Anderson
Going into roof, 3 p.m.
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Photo by Kaycee Anderson
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The owner and the city fire marshal disagree about the cause of a house fire that gutted the interior of a two-story house early Monday afternoon at the north side of the Willow St. overpass. The house at 8th and Willow was the home of Larry Lee Britton, a former city councilman. It contained numerous family heirlooms and historical items, Britton said. No one was home. The fire was reported around 11:40 a.m. Britton, who does odd jobs around town, said he left the house at 11:15 a.m. to take lunch to an elderly woman on the south side and returned about 25 minutes later via the Buffalo Bill Ave. overpass. As he drove east toward his house, he saw smoke and prayed it wasn’t his house. Passerby Rick Yonkers was driving north over the Willow St. overpass shortly after the fire started. He saw sparks shooting off the electrical entrance on the back corner of the house.
Disputed cause Fire Marshal George Lewis said the fire started on the electric kitchen stove where Britton was "canning beets" and apparently left a burner on. Lewis said the fire spread to "combustibles near the burner," up the wall and out the back window, where it melted the insulation on the outdoor wiring, causing the sparks. But Britton told the Bulletin he wasn't canning beets, he was cooking them on the stove. And when they were cooked, he took the pan and the contents with him to deliver. He said he typically leaves a stove burner on low setting with a tea kettle on it. This time the kettle was in the sink but he might well have left the burner on. But he said it was "very low" and there were no combustables on or near the stove. "I was a volunteer fireman for 15 years," Britton said. "I've been a Boy Scout for 47 years. I know fire safety. There was nothing combustible left on the stove. The sparking service line (coming in) set the house on fire."
Battle By the time Yonkers parked the car and came back to help, he said the house was full of smoke. Yonkers said he helped an off-duty policeman tell neighbors to move their cars away from the curbs. Fire trucks arrived shortly and blocked off the street. Firefighters battled for more than three hours, knocking out windows and caving in some of the ceilings and interior walls so they could reach the roots of the blaze. The outdoor temperature was around 90 degrees. Two firefighters were overcome by heat and taken to Great Plains Regional Medical Center to be treated for exhaustion, Fire Chief Paul Pederson said. A grass fire below the electrical service wire was quickly extinguished, but at 2 p.m. the east wall near the corner where the fire started was still ablaze. The fire continued to smolder and flare. An hour later, fire fighters had to cut a hole in the roof of the northeast corner to get at flames that still burned under the eaves. Pederson said the old house didn’t have fire blocks between the parallel studs of the walls and roof. Without the blocks, the studs create columns that act like chimneys -- encouraging flames to burn. There was extensive heat and smoke damage throughout the house, Lewis said. Britton was gratified to receive calls from family and friends asking him if he was okay. For the firefighters, the Red Cross brought water, Gatorade and sandwiches and they also helped Britton find temporary shelter, Lincoln County Red Cross Director Shelly Penner said.
Collector Britton describes himself as a collector and amateur historian. He rents the house from the Berean Church. Church Deacon Les Ravenscroft said he was glad no one was hurt. The house is thought to be at least 100 years old. The first house on that corner was built in 1886, according to historical records. Britton believes the house was built in 1909. It contained lots of historical records, including the history of the Elk's Club, furniture from the old Elk's Club and a mounted elk's head that once belonged to Buffalo Bill's son-in-law. Britton said he also had the records of the Oddfellows in North Platte, dating from when the club moved to North Platte, plus a display from the 1913 Volunteer Firefighters Association. Britton said he was talking to arts council members about donating some of it for display in the 1913 Post Office building after it is restored. All that is gone now, he said. At the city council meeting the next night, Pastor Joe Sukraw mentioned Britton in the opening prayer.
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