Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
LARWILL, Ind. (AP) - Investigators have ruled that a fire that killed a South Whitley fireman was an accident.
Insurance and state fire marshal investigators found that the Tuesday fire at the Farmer's Exchange began in the kitchen and was an accidental fire, said Larwill Fire Chief Brad Gebert.
Alden Taylor, a spokesman for the state fire marshal's office said the fire started in either a deep fryer or a grill. Both were left on Monday night when the tavern closed. Taylor said the state's investigation is complete.
The fire destroyed the building and caused the death of rookie firefighter Jeff Sammons.
Jeff Sammons was so excited about his job as a volunteer firefighter that he kept a scanner next to his bed and carried a pager at all times.
That way, he'd know immediately when there was a fire, said his mother, Mary Ann Sammons.
'He was always just so excited. ... He was only 21 and he was so full of life,' said Ms. Sammons, who always tried to see her son off before every fire call.
But she was asleep early Tuesday morning when her son, who had been with the South Whitley-Cleveland Township Volunteer Fire Department less than a month, was paged about the fire at the local tavern.
Gebert said when firefighters arrived at the Farmer's Exchange Tavern in Larwill about 12:43 a.m. Tuesday, they found 25-foot flames shooting from the roof over the kitchen.
Eleven fire departments and 70 to 80 firefighters responded to Tuesday's blaze in Larwill.
Sammons entered the building with fellow South Whitley firefighters Preston Bolinger, 48, Doug Kessie, 35, and Dan Porter, 35.
But then a flashover swept through the tavern, suddenly filling it with flames and increased heat.
'It's like hell in there,' Gebert said. 'It sends chills down your back.'
Bolinger and Kessie were burned, but managed to get out. Other firefighters entered the building to rescue Porter and Sammons, but only found Porter initially. They found Sammons' body about 10 minutes later some 15 feet from the front door.
Bolinger and Kessie were discharged after being treated for burns at St. Joseph Medical Center in Fort Wayne. Porter was in serious but stable condition Thursday morning at the hospital burn unit.
Porter's wife, Tonya, said her husband, a father of two who's been a firefighter more than a decade, has second- and third-degree burns over 50 percent to 60 percent of his body.
Sammons was a 1996 graduate of Whitko High School who loved racing cars. He worked full time at Johnson Brothers Sign Co., where he was a hard worker, said co-worker Greg Ashley.
'You can't say nothing bad about Jeff. If you needed help, he was always there for you. I'm proud to say I was a friend of his,' Ashley said.
Ms. Sammons has one thing to console herself now that her son is gone: Before going to bed Monday night, she told her son she loved him.
'I reached in (Monday) night and hugged him and told him I loved him,' she said. 'At least I told him.'
A memorial fund has been set up for the Sammons family. Contributions can be sent to or dropped off at any NBD Branch Bank.
The funeral for Sammons will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Whitko High School gymnasium. The Indiana Volunteer Firemen's Association will conduct a service at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Smith and Sons Miller Chapel, South Whitley. Memorials are to the South Whitley/Cleveland Township Volunteer Fire Department.
