Cigarette blamed for Norfolk fire

NORFOLK, Neb. — Firefighters could not rescue two children who perished while hiding in a bedroom from a blaze that destroyed a house Tuesday.

The two-story structure had started to collapse when firefighters arrived at the country home north of Norfolk. A brother and sister hiding in a second-floor bedroom died of smoke inhalation in a fire apparently caused when a cigarette discarded under a composite deck ignited tree debris.

“It's not the fire that gets them, it's the smoke,” said Terry Zwiebel, Norfolk's fire marshal. “The children did what is textbook for children (in thinking) if you can't see the fire, it's not going to hurt me. They went back into their room and that's where we found them.”

The victims were identified as Devynne Ellenberger, 8, and Sierra Ellenberger, 10.

Their mother, Jolene Ellenberger; two of Ellenberger's other children, Jasmine, 6, and Skylar, 4; and Jacob Kooi all escaped the fire.

Kooi is the adult son of Myron Kooi, who owned the house and operates a telephone sales and service company out of another building on the acreage. Myron Kooi was not home at the time of the fire.

Zwiebel said Ellenberger attempted to use the phone inside the house to call for help but it didn't work. She went to a neighboring house and a neighbor called 911.

Firefighters received the call at 1:41 a.m. The burning house was three miles out of town and the fire glow on the horizon told firefighters that a significant blaze was underway, said Fire Chief Shane Weidner.

“The house was totally engulfed (in flames),'' said Doug Dekker, a fire department shift commander.
The blaze eventually burned the structure to the ground.

Investigators said fire-safe cigarettes were used at the house, but it's not known if that type caused the fire.

“They're called ‘fire safe' but they still continue to burn until they get to a certain portion of that cigarette and then they go out,” Zwiebel said. “It's not once you stop puffing on it, it goes out right away. There's a delay.”

Zwiebel said wind pushed the fire under the deck toward the house.

The house had no working smoking detectors or sprinkler system.

Zwiebel said Ellenberger and her children had been staying with the Koois temporarily.

“Myron is a very Christian guy,” he said. “He'll take people in.”

Rasmussen, a neighbor, said townspeople were shocked by the deaths and concerned about the impact on Myron Kooi, who is widely known for helping others.

Kooi traveled to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina to help clean and repair houses, she said. He hosts Christian music festivals on his property.

“He's a neat guy who will stop and help you at anytime,'' Rasmussen said. “We haven't seen each other much this winter and we didn't know he had a family living there. This has to be devastating to him.''

Flashing lights from fire trucks and ambulances at the fire awakened Rasmussen and her husband, Ken.

Paula Rasmussen opened a bedroom window. Flames torched the night sky. Steam and smoke billowed into roiling, choking clouds.

“Sometimes you know you just better stay away,'' she said of the fiery scene about a quarter mile down the road.

In addition to Norfolk firefighters, crews responded from nearby Hadar, Hoskins and Pierce. They controlled the fire in about two hours. Some firefighters remained on the scene until about 11 a.m.

Betty Keim, who lives a quarter mile south of Kooi, said the sound of sirens seemed to come from every direction during the night. “It's terrible that people lost their lives.''

Ellenberger and Kooi were treated for smoke inhalation at Faith Regional Health Services and were released. Autopsies were for Sierra and Devynne were scheduled Wednesday morning in Omaha.
Ten people have died in Norfolk fires since 1998.

The World-Herald News Service contributed to this report.

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