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PHOENIX FIRE Phoenix woman narrowly escapes house fire She awoke to thick smoke and flames Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 5:22 PM Updated Feb 29, 2016 at 6:38 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 5:22 PM Updated Feb 29, 2016 at 6:38 PM » Social News PHOENIX — Lindsay Sorrels awoke from a Monday afternoon nap to thick smoke inside her house, then discovered that the small blanket fire next to her fireplace that she had dowsed earlier had roared back to life. "I could see fire rolling under the futon and then rolling over the futon," Sorrels says. "I tried to put it out but there was too much smoke. I went outside and that's when the windows blew out." No one was hurt in the 4:45 p.m. fire in the small wooden house at 10 E. Bolz Road just off Highway 99 in downtown Phoenix. Jackson County Fire District 5 Chief Darin Welburn says he did not know what triggered the slumbering Sorrels to awake and likely save her life, but it could be text messages from her daughter. Welburn does know, however, that it wasn't a working smoke alarm, he says. "We're very thankful she woke up," Welburn says. "This could have been a fatality for us." The house was severely damaged in the blaze and was uninhabitable, but no damage estimate was immediately available, Welburn says. Sorrels says she was burning newly acquired wood Monday afternoon in the fireplace of her home, which she owns and has lived in the past 18 years. She had several blankets on her futon inside the home's small living room and one of them apparently caught fire, she says. Sorrels says she quelled those flames with two cups of water and thought everything was fine before slumbering. When she discovered flames in the living room, Sorrels says she ran outside and pulled in a garden hose to dowse the growing flames. "I couldn't believe how fast it started," she says. When the smoke overcame her, she raced outside in her stocking feet shortly before the windows exploded, Sorrels says. "It blew with such a huge noise," she says. "I'm glad I made it out." Several telephone calls alerted firefighters, who found the house ablaze, firefighters said. Fresh firewood also was stacked on the small porch and Welburn says firefighters discovered the garden hose running into the house as Sorrels described. Firefighters knocked down the flames that sent a thick plume of black smoke over Interstate 5's newly opened Fern Valley interchange. Firefighters continued on scene probing the attic in search of remnant flames. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 5:22 PM Updated Feb 29, 2016 at 6:38 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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