TREMONT - A fire in the wall of a trailer home Tuesday left three people - and three pets - homeless.
No one was injured in the home at 14A Tremont Road, Tremont Township, Gregory J. Pijar, fire chief of Ravine Fire Company No. 1, said, adding the flames were extinguished within 10 minutes of firefighters' arrival.
Barbara Wenrich, 48, of Tremont Township, lived in the house with her daughter, Faith Wenrich, 18, and a roommate, Todd Patterson, 52.
Wenrich credited a 3-year-old family pit bull, Nena, with alerting her to the blaze.
"The dog smelled smoke and the dog got me," she said.
Wenrich said she plugged in an extension cord in the kitchen and the dog later went to another area of the trailer and started whining. When Wenrich went to investigate, she noticed smoke and called 911.
The Ravine company and other firefighters from surrounding municipalities responded.
The blaze started "in the wall between the bathroom and the bedroom," Pijar said, adding the fire company was dispatched at 4:22 p.m. for smoke in a structure.
"We had to kill the power to the trailer," Pijar said.
About 20 firefighters responded. No one was injured.
Pijar said he will speak to a state police fire marshal and then make a determination on the cause, adding it does not appear to be suspicious.
A blue mattress and a box spring carried outside by firefighters had burn marks. Insulation was exposed and a window was broken in the trailer.
The frigid weather would have been more of a factor for firefighters if they had to fight the blaze for an extended period.
Pijar did not have a damage estimate, but said the home was "not necessarily a total loss." He said the local chapter of the Red Cross had been contacted.
Wenrich said she and the other occupants will temporarily stay with her sister, Jackie Hellinger, who owns the trailer.
Responding to the scene were the Ravine, Tremont, Donaldson, Pine Grove North End, Pine Grove and Joliett fire companies and the Tremont Area Ambulance.