A Great Bend man was taken to Great Bend Regional Hospital after jumping from a window in a burning house Thursday evening, Great Bend Fire Department Battalion Chief Rick Robison said. Another man stayed inside the one-story house at 1308 Eighth St. and apparently suffered no injury, refusing treatment at the scene.
Robison declined to identify the injured man due to privacy laws, but the occupants of the house were identified as John Glenn and Jeff Keenan.
"One of them woke up and saw smoke," he said. Firefighters were dispatched at 7:20 p.m. and arrived to find light smoke and a man laying on the front lawn. The extent of his injuries were not known.
Flames behind a stove and refrigerator were extinguished, and that is where the fire appears to have started. Firefighters could not pinpoint the cause, however, and reported it as "undetermined." There was also charring in the ceiling and attic above the refrigerator.
Initial damage estimates ranged from at least $3,000 to more than $10,000.
Kids start fire with lighter
Firefighters were dispatched to another structure fire earlier in the day Thursday. Chief Mike Napolitano said trucks were dispatched to 5708 Hemlock St. at 2:12 p.m. after children playing with a lighter caused a couch and box of clothes to catch fire.
Their mother had the fire extinguished by the time firefighters arrived, Napolitano said. They used pressurized water on the couch to make sure there were no hot spots, and ventilated the house.
No one was hurt.
