MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A fire displaced a Madison County family Wednesday morning, but the family was able to safely get out thanks to two early responders.
According to the Red Lick Volunteer Fire Department, the fire began around 7 a.m. Wedneday. Homeowners Zack and Kaitlyn Huff woke up to someone banging on their door.
“I grabbed my phone to check my camera to see who was here,” Kaitlyn said. “[Zack] looked out our bedroom window and was like ‘Katie, our house is on fire.’ I grabbed my little boy and I put his head on my shoulder and I just ran out the front door.”
Two people passing by saw the fire and stopped at the house before fire crews arrived at the scene. According to Keith Everitt, a Red Lick Volunteer firefighter, Jason Gabbard, a fire chief from Jackson County, and Phillip Logsdon, a Berea College IT staff member, were the two who stopped at the Huff’s house.
“There was a guy and he took my little boy to get him out of the smoke, because there was smoke all the way down to the mailbox,” Kaitlyn said, describing Logsdon.
“The other guy was beating and banging on our door. He almost kicked it in,” she added, saying it was Gabbard. “If it was not for that man, within I would say a minute or two, it would have ended so much differently for me and my little boy and [Zack]. That guy saved our life 100%. He saved our life.”
The Red Lick Volunteer Fire Department responded, along with firefighters from Madison County, Berea, and the Blue Grass Army Depot.
“Hoses were deployed and the fire was put out in a relatively quick period of time considering a house fire,” Everitt shared. “A lot of damage was done to the home.”
Everitt and the Huffs feel this morning could have gone a very different direction.
“If they'd have been asleep another five minutes, the atmosphere would have changed so much that if they would have opened the door, it may have overcome them within a few steps,” Everitt said.
“I put my little girl on the bus this morning thinking that I was going to take an hour nap and then wake back up,” shared Kaitlyn. “Then we wake up and our house is on fire. That’s just something that you never ever planned for."
Neighbors and family are stepping up to support the Huff family. One family member began a GoFundMe page which can be found here. A neighbor also set up a box for donations at a nearby gas station, the Big Hill Food Mart.
According to family, these are the children’s items needed:
- Boys 4T pants
- Boys 5T shirts
- Kids size 12 shoe
- Girls 8-10 clothes
- Girls size 1 shoe
