Two people die in house fire near Doniphan

DONIPHAN, Mo. — A Doniphan man suffered burns to his upper body as he tried to save his toddler son from their burning home Friday afternoon, but the child and his mother died in the fire.

About 4 p.m. Friday, the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department received a call about a structure fire, said Ripley County Coroner Mike Jackson, reading from a news release. A neighbor called in the fire.

On fire was a single-story home southwest of Doniphan.

“There was a firefighter retired from Sikeston who happened to be living real close, Tommy Conn; he heard something, went out and seen smoke,” said Mike Wicklund Jr., fire chief of the Current River Volunteer Fire Department.

“He went down and seen fire going out the back of the house and the front of the house and heard the man calling for help,” Wicklund said.

Conn saw a man, identified as Michael Payne, in the front window, Wicklund said.

“He was trying to get out and get the crib out,” Wicklund said. “(Payne) was being helped out the window because he was on fire.”

Conn was trying to help Payne, who was “trying to pull the crib out. ... (Payne) did make it out, but the baby didn’t,” Wicklund said.

The men’s actions at the window apparently were “fanning the flames,” Wicklund said. “The house went up fast and hot. The mother was in the back room, trying to get through, and didn’t make it. She perished in a hallway.”

Killed in the fire were Payne’s 23-year-old wife, Valerie, and their 15-month-old son, Eli, said Jackson, who pronounced them dead at 5:15 p.m. Friday.

“I believe she was asleep in one room, and the baby was asleep in the other room, and Mr. Payne was outside and came running in to get them,” Wicklund said.

Wicklund said Payne suffered second- and third-degree burns. Payne was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment, Jackson said.

The fire is being investigated by the sheriff’s department, coroner’s office and the state fire marshal’s office, Jackson said.

Anyone who can help the family with donations is asked to call Wicklund at (573) 776-4009.