A husband saved his wife Monday night from a fast-moving fire that destroyed their house.
A late night fire destroys 2425 S. 13th St. in #KCK, here's a look at the damage as the sun comes up. pic.twitter.com/EPmql20Zv2
— Andres Gutierrez (@AFGutierrez) March 1, 2016
The first fire broke out at a house on the 2400 block of South 13th Street near Highway 69. It also spread to a nearby garage.
Fortunately, fire crews were able to keep it from moving farther.
Flames jumped from the house to this garage next door due to the high winds in #KCK last night. pic.twitter.com/HULnd0x84A
— Andres Gutierrez (@AFGutierrez) March 1, 2016
Firefighters got the call around 10:30 p.m. One person was sent to the hospital in serious condition and two others made it out safely.
One person is in the hospital this morning because of this #KCK house fire. Two other people made it out safely. pic.twitter.com/DZ1ZaOErmC
— Andres Gutierrez (@AFGutierrez) March 1, 2016
The high winds did not help firefighters, but they got control of the situation in less than a half hour.
Timothy Keagy and his wife, Stacey, went to bed around 7:30 p.m. A few hours later, at 9:43 p.m., one of them would be fighting to survive the fire.
"I heard a pop, I went out to see what was going on, out my back door so I went out and I [saw] the flames come shooting out of my house," Keagy said.
Keagy ran next door get the garden hose to try and put out the fire. He didn't have much luck as the wall of flames around the house grew with his wife still inside.
"All I knew is that I had to her get out," Keagy said.
His adrenaline kicked in.
"I busted the window, I couldn't get her to respond - the smoke and everything," Keagy said.
When that didn't work, Keagy went around the side and busted in the front door with poor visibility.
Neighbors stepped in to help as the fire spread to a garage next door.
"I climbed in and finally got her to respond to me I had to slide out that window and back in the other one to get to her and we pulled her out," Keagy said.
Paramedics took Stacey Keagy to the hospital, suffering from smoke inhalation in serious but stable condition. She's now recovering and resting.
"[She's] with a ventilator trying to get the soot from her lungs, she'll be OK," Timothy Keagy said.
The fire was extinguished within 30 minutes, according to Deputy Chief John Zimbelman with the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department. He adds the estimated total fire loss is $100,000.
Timothy Keagy's family is working to the establish a fund to assist with costs.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com.
