Police officers rescued elderly couple from smoke-filled home

GRAFTON — When the call came in for a kitchen fire on Hickory Street, Police Chief Dan Clark and Sgt. Ken Jake were the first ones at the scene. When they found out the homeowners were still inside, Jake said he and the chief didn't hesitate to get them out. "We didn't really think about it," Jake said. "We just went in and did it." Jake wrote in his report from the Aug. 15 incident that after looking through the window, the entire house seemed to be filled in a thick, black smoke. Without any fire equipment or fire training, he said the two of them went in. Jake and Clark went to the front of the home, forcing a locked screen door open and kicking down the front door. After making their way in, Jake said there was little to no visibility in the house. "It was pretty heavily smoked," he said. The pair crawled through the house toward the occupants' voices since they couldn't see more than six inches in front of them. Jake reported that they soon found the homeowners, Gerald and Lee Severns, and escorted them out of them home, eventually carrying them individually to safety in the front yard. The police as well as the occupants were covered in soot when the came out of the home. Jake said he and Clark were checked by ambulance personnel after they left the house and were cleared. Gerald and Lee Severns, both in their 90s, were taken to the hospital. Their son-in-law, Ken Yacobozzi, said they both were released later with no injuries. Yacobozzi said Gerald and Lee Severns were making breakfast Aug. 15 when the toaster caught on fire, prompting Gerald Severns to call 911. He said the fire didn't spread past the kitchen, but that smoke and soot made its way through the entire house. He said the police responded quickly to the scene, followed by the ambulance and firefighters. Fire Chief Glen Thompson said by the time he arrived on the scene, the occupants were already out of the house, and firefighters immediately started fighting the kitchen fire. Yacobozzi said the small size of Grafton means many of the residents know each other, giving them a great relationship with their first responders. "It's not just a job for them," he said. While the fire was put out quickly and didn't spread past the kitchen, Yacobozzi said most of the house suffered smoke damage. Currently Yacobozzi and his wife, Ellen, are in the process of putting the house back together. He said it will be four to six months before the house is cleaned up so the Severns can move back in. Contact Sean McDonnell at 329-7148 or smcdonnell@chroniclet.com.