In an ironic turn of events, just a few months after teen brothers helped neighbors evacuate during a house fire, their house has been lost to fire. Paola Fire Chief, Bruce Hartig, says firefighters were dispatched to the home, which sits across the street from the fire station, just before 10:00 recently. Fortunately no one was home at the time of the fire. Firefighters made entry into the home. But were forced to exit when the living room floor started to collapse into the basement, and they shifted to an exterior attack through the windows. Hartig says the fire caused heavy damage.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Hartig said the homeowner said he left the home about an hour earlier after the home was bug bombed. He also confirmed that it was the home of Micah Nance and his two teen sons, Lucas and Matthew who helped neighbors during a fire in March. Both boys received awards for their efforts, during a Paola City Council meeting.
Miami County Undersheriff, Matt Kelly, says the sheriff’s office recently provided gift cards to the Nance boys, as they work to replace what was lost.
