The Lovell Volunteer Fire Dept. responded quickly to a fire on Montana Avenue Wednesday that burned a home and filled it with thick smoke. Despite fire damage to a couple of rooms and major smoke and heat damage to the rest of the house, no one was injured.

Brad Devereaux

Lovell firemen set up fans to pump air into a burning house Wednesday, May 28, on Montana Avenue in Lovell.

    Fire Captain Bob Mangus said a page was received at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday after someone walking by noticed smoke coming from the back of the house owned by Peter and Betty Feldman. Fire Chief Jim Minchow arrived on the scene at 11:31 and fire trucks began arriving at 11:32.


    Minchow assessed the scene and shut off the gas and electrical feeds to the home while firefighters equipped themselves with airparks and set up fans to push air through the front door for positive pressure ventilation.


    No one was home during the fire and Mangus said it had probably burned for about a half hour before it caused a window to break and ventilate smoke to alert the person passing by.


    “The back corner of the house was totally involved by the time we got there,” Mangus said. “It had broken out some windows and was working on the roof.”


    Attempts to go inside were stopped by the heat and thick smoke, Mangus said. At first, the fans weren’t ventilating the fire as expected, he said, until the bedroom door finally burned and allowed smoke to ventilate through the roof.


    Firefighters then went inside and began to soak the fire. They worked their way down a hallway as parts of the ceiling were falling down around them until they reached the two bedrooms in the back. After about an hour of work, the flames were under control, Mangus said.


    A cat was found under a bed in the basement of the house, shaken up, Mangus said, but still breathing. The cat was taken to the vet.


    Lovell firefighters and the State Fire Marshall from Laramie agreed that the blaze started with a lamp in the closet of one of the back bedrooms.


    The Feldman family is currently staying at a different location. The family contacted their insurance agent immediately following the fire.


    Several donation funds have been opened to help offset the family’s costs following the fire. Donations are being accepted at Lovell Elementary School, Bank of Lovell and First National Bank and Trust.