GREEN RIVER — When Green River residents Matt and KayLee Brandt were looking for their lost ferret, they had no idea it would lead them to discovering a deck on fire at their neighbor’s house.
On August 27, at about 1 am, the Green River Fire Department responded to a deck fire at 1765 New Mexico Street.
The following are the events that led to that call.
While searching for the ferret, Gambit, the Brandts walked by the this deck numerous times and didn’t see anything. After looking for their ferret for a long time, the couple decided to take a break. That’s when Matt thought he smelled smoke from fireworks. KayLee said she recalled seeing a small fire and told him it was just the neighbors having a campfire.
After their 10-minute break, they returned to search the area and that’s when they noticed what they thought was a campfire was actually a deck on fire on New Mexico Street. Matt jumped over the fence and started yelling at the neighbors to wake up and get out of the house, while KayLee called 911.
While on the phone, KayLee saw a woman come running out of the house with a fire extinguisher. The lady tried to use it, but it didn’t work. She dropped it and ran and got everyone out of the house. The woman’s husband then ran in the back yard and started to spray the fire with water from a water hose he had in the backyard.
He proceeded to spray the fire with the hose until the Green River Police Department and the Green River Fire Department arrived about 3 to 5 minutes later, KayLee said.
A Green River firefighter is spaying the fire. Photo by KayLee Brandt 
Checking for hot spots. Green River Fire Department photo What’s left of the deck. Green River Fire Department photo
Upon arrival, Assistant Fire Chief Larry Erdmann said, in a press release, heavy smoke and the glow of the fire could be seen and the GRPD directed the fire truck to the back alley to have better access.
After putting the fire out, firefighters tried to determine the cause.
Erdmann said because the deck was a total loss, it’s hard to determine the cause, however, the origin of the fire was a planter that had a dead blueberry bush in it. Firefighters were on the scene for 2 hours. No injuries were sustained and damage was estimated at $12,000, the release states.
“I just truly could not believe how fast the police showed up and the fire department,” KayLee said. “It took them maybe 4 minutes to get there. I was shocked!”
After the fire was put out, the realization set in that things could have turned out a lot worse had the Brandts not been looking for their pet.
“I just can’t believe that if our ferret didn’t go missing these people would have lost their home,” KayLee said.
As for the lost ferret, it had been turned into Green River Animal control and the officer on duty made sure KayLee and Matt received their ferret back. Even if it was 2:30 in the morning.
