ARLEY - An Arley man has died after suffering burns from a house fire Saturday night, Feb. 21, that not only destroyed the house where he was residing, but also spread to endanger a neighbor’s residence, first responders confirmed.
David “Dave” Shortt, 64, of 177 CR 3936, was pronounced dead at UAB Hospital, according to Winston County Coroner Tracey Holley.
The fire at the residence in the Wilson Bend Area, is under investigation by the Alabama Fire Marshal’s office, authorities said.
Fire departments were called out around 8 p.m. to find about 4-5 acres of woods and brush on fire, kindled by winds between 20 to 30 miles per hour and spreading from the house fire, firefighters on the scene said.
“Somebody on the other side of (Smith) Lake called it in. There was a whole hillside burning,” stated Arley Fire Captain James Rickett. “They could tell there was a house in the middle of it.
“The house caught on fire, then it caught the woods on fire,” Rickett recalled. “There were several trees burning.
“The house had already burned down by the time we got there,” Rickett pointed out. “It was already on the ground.”
Addison and Helicon fire departments came on the scene to provide assistance, along with the Winston County Sheriff’s Office and Cullman Electric Co-op, first responders on the scene said.
Medics with the Winston County Rescue Squad administered care to Shortt, who had suffered significant burns on the upper torso portion of his body, noted Helicon Fire Captain Dusty Hood.
Shortt was able to escape the burning home and went on foot to a neighbor’s house, where authorities were called, according to Jesse Oliver, director of the Winston County Rescue Squad.
“Our actual contact with him was at a neighbor’s residence,” Oliver stated.
Medics treated Shortt on the scene, with the rescue squad ambulance transporting him to the Arley Fire Station on County Road 77, where a landing zone was set up for Air Evac medical helicopter flight, Oliver added.
Air Evac airlifted Shortt for further treatment at UAB Hospital, Oliver confirmed.
“He walked over to a neighbor’s house, burned as bad as he was,” Rickett stated. “I felt for him. I don’t want anybody suffering.”
Firefighters battled the fire not only in the woods, but worked to extinguish the blaze that had destroyed the residence, firefighters on the scene said.
“There were several trees that were burning up in (the) top of the trees,” Rickett said. “So we had trouble getting the tops of the trees out.
“We had to stop the woods fire because there were some houses around there,” Rickett continued. “We didn’t want any of the houses to get burned down.”
“The fire had progressed around the edge of Smith Lake and had gotten under the back porch of the owner’s property,” noted Hood.
Firefighters worked to suppress the fire so that it would not endanger another structure, Hood said.
“We did fire suppression on the underbrush and the leaves that were on the hillside that had originated from the structure that had burned,” Hood described.
“The fire had progressed due to the wind velocity and the direction of the wind from the event. It had traversed across the property up under the neighbor’s house and onto their dock,” Hood said, adding the distance traveled was approximately 800 yards.
“The fire had progressed far enough where it got on both sides of the house around the propane tank,” Hood said about the neighboring residence being in danger.
The spreading fire damaged some outdoor objects and landscaping at the neighbor’s house, firefighters said.
“We were able to get the fire suppressed before it had caused major damage to the structural integrity of the back porch,” Hood said.
Occupants of the neighboring residence in danger of the spreading fire had already been contacted by other neighbors, so they were out of the house, using a garden hose to help keep the fire back, firefighters on the scene said.
“The wind was blowing (the fire) up the hill,” Hood said. “It got to the access road at 3926 and it stopped. The wind then whipped it down from the road all the way to the water’s edge and around that slough area.”
Firefighters used the capacity of their trucks, as well as shuttled water from the nearest hydrant about a quarter-mile away, first responders on the scene said.
“The water situation was great, no problem with that,” Rickett said.
This marks the first fire-related fatality for Arley in about a year, according to Rickett. The last fire-related fatality occurred on Honeysuckle Lane, he added.
“I just hate it for anybody’s family to have to go through that,” Rickett said.
Firefighters were finally able to clear the scene at 12:04 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, but Arley was called back Sunday morning on a rekindle, first responders said.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
Subscribe now!