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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 8, 2005 Jackson County Sheriff�s Department Chaplain Larry Blight, left, consoles Anthony Monk, 41, following a Wednesday night fire that burned his home in west Medford. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Fire blackens home; no injuries By CHRIS CONRAD Mail Tribune An oven burner sparked a blaze that gutted the second floor of a west Medford home Wednesday evening. Anthony Monk, 41, of the 800 block of 11th street, had just finished making his three kids a fried chicken dinner when he left to get a soda from the Minute Market just down the street. "On my way back from the store I see all these fire trucks and I think, ‘This is unbelievable.’ I was gone only 10 minutes," Monk said. His thoughts quickly turned to his son, Antoine, 16, who was in his room playing video games when Monk left. "My biggest fear was Antoine was trapped in his room," Monk said. "Those video games can be hypnotic." Advertisement But Antoine managed to escape the house without injury. Everything else — school supplies, school books, clothes and Antoine’s birthday presents, which he was to receive today — was consumed by flames, Monk said. Monk’s daughter and other son were on their way home for dinner and weren’t in the house at the time of the fire. Firefighters told Monk that his electric stove’s oven burner had been left on, starting the 7:20 p.m. blaze. It could have been much worse. Antoine was unaware of the fire until he opened his bedroom door to use the bathroom and saw the house was filled with smoke, Monk said. "He tried to put it out, but when he realized it was bigger than he was he called the fire department," Monk said. Monk, clearly shaken, could do nothing as he watched his home burn the day before his son’s birthday. "If it was my fault, I just want to apologize to my neighbors," he said. "I made a mistake." The two-alarm fire was tended to by five Medford Fire Department engines. Jackson County Fire District 3 and the Phoenix Fire Department each sent one engine, said Ken Goodson, battalion chief of the Medford Fire Department. Reach reporting intern Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail Fire blackens home; no injuries ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztechmedia Website Hosting Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Advertisement s