Document text
Fire death is loss for Butte Falls There was no way to save 'Grandma Blanche' from flames and heat By JILL BRISKEY BUTTE FALLS - The day before she died, Blanche Campbell told a friend that she would never leave her home and move closer to town, despite the fact she was 80 years old. "She said, 'I wouldn't enjoy going anywhere. This is my home. This is where I'm going to stay,' " Butte Falls City Council member Stan Moore recalls. "She was a very spirited person." Campbell - a longtime resident who made "the best pies you ever ate in your life," enjoyed quilting and was an active member of the Community Bible Church - died Tuesday in a fire that destroyed her 20-year-old home on Obenchain Road. According to Butte Falls Volunteer Fire Chief Hugh Simpson, the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Foul play does not appear to be a factor, he added. The fire, which was reported at 4:40 a.m., apparently began in the southeast portion of Campbell's two-story home, Simpson said. Campbell, a widow who lived alone, may have been downstairs when the fire broke out, Simpson said, possibly sitting on a couch. Resident Jake Hamann was on his way to work when he spotted the fire. He rushed to Campbell's home after calling for help. Hamann, 19, often helped Campbell with yard work and called her "Grandma Blanche." "It was completely engulfed," Hamann said. "It was pretty scary." Campbell's neighbor, Gary Street, helped Hamann break several windows in an attempt to enter the locked and burning home, but the heat prevented them from entering. The men saw Campbell's vehicle in her garage and knew she was inside the house. "You couldn't do anything. The smoke and heat were so bad," Street recalled. "It's such a bad thing to happen. Everybody loved her." Simpson said the fire had engulfed the home when seven firefighters arrived minutes later, forcing crews to work on containment. Butte Falls firefighters, with help from Fire District 3, had the fire under control in about an hour. "There was absolutely nothing we could do," he said. "The trees were charring and burning. Had there been any wind, there would have probably been a forest fire." Resident and friend Joyce Hailicka remembers Campbell, the mother of one and grandmother of two, fondly and said the community will miss her. "It's just so hard to imagine that. It's just gone," she said. "She was such a kind woman, who never had a bad word for anybody." Central Point resident Betty Henson said Campbell worked as a beautician in Arkansas before she moved to the Rogue Valley. Henson, whose friendship with Campbell spanned 50 years, said Campbell lived in Central Point before moving to Butte Falls in 1976. "Mainly she was a homemaker," Henson recalls. "She was very active. She loved to travel." Campbell's death has made a major impact on the community, Simpson added. "We all had tears in our eyes at some point. It was a very heartbreaking experience," Simpson said. "She had a tremendous reputation in this town. She was so kind and decent. She just made you light up inside." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.