FIRE LEAVES FAMILY IN NEED

MCCLURE, Ill. -- A handful of school pictures and a couple of books are all that remain after a fire that destroyed a mobile home in McClure, Ill., Thursday night.

No one was injured in the blaze which began about 9:30 p.m. The fire, which gutted the home, left a family of six without any housing. The fire was apparently caused by an electrical short in the clothes dryer.

Ronnie Matlock and Joy Brown were near the front of the home with their four children when the fire occurred. The family had owned the home for six years.

"I got up and I walked back here, and this was all on fire," said Matlock as he pointed to the narrow hallway in the back of the home where the dryer sat. "I yelled up front and told her to get the kids out because the place was on fire."

Normally, the children would have been in their bedroom, which is located about five feet from the dryer at the end of the hallway. Matlock could not discuss what might have happened if the children had been in their room.

"We was in the living room sitting there watching TV because that's the only room with air-conditioning," Matlock said. "If our central unit hadn't been broken ..."

William Hall, fire chaplain for the McClure-East Cape Fire Protection District, said the home was fully engulfed in flames within minutes. Firefighters worked for about an hour to control the blaze.

"The trailer's still standing but it's gutted inside," he said.

Hall said he was glad to see the family's use of "Tot Finder" stickers provided by the fire department. Firefighters distribute the stickers in schools and tell children to place them on their bedroom windows.

Matlock said his family placed stickers on every bedroom window. A sticker also was placed on the door connected to the family room.

"When we see those stickers, we know to go to those rooms first to make sure the kids are out," Hall said. "We live by the Tot Finder sticker."

Because the family had no insurance, Hall is leading efforts to help them find clothing and a place to live. The family currently is living with Matlock's parents.

"They had no insurance whatsoever, so we're trying to get everybody to know about this 'cause it's tragic," Hall said. "This family needs all the help they can possibly get."

Three of the four children were school-aged. April, 7 and Billy, 8, wear size 6 in clothes and size 11 shoes. Vesper, 14, wears size 7-8 clothes and size 10 shoes.

Mikayla, 18 months, wears size 5 shoes.

Brown wears a size 18 in clothes and size 5 shoes. Matlock wears size 38-30s in pants, extra-large shirts, and size 9 shoes.

Donations may be sent to McClure-East Cape Fire Department, "Donations for the Brown family", P.O. Box 126, McClure, Ill., 62957.