Couple, child, dog escape fire
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on January 23, 2018 5:50 AM
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Firefighters battle the fire that destroyed the Macklins' home and many of their belongings Sunday night.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The charred and smoke damaged possessions that were located near the fire lie in a pile outside of the house at 101 Southern Plaza Drive Monday afternoon.
There's a charred outline of a picture frame on the walls of a home at 101 Southern Plaza Drive.
The paint on a a glass-front cabinet is melted, suspended mid-drip from protruding knobs.
The glass on the front of the cabinet is shattered in erratic patterns.
Throughout the house, the smell of still-wet flooring mixes with the scent of charred wood and a family's belongings.
Less than 48 hours ago, this was not the reality.
Calap D. Macklin, 82, said he was inside his home when he got up to go the bathroom.
When he came out of the bathroom, around 7:30 p.m., he smelled something. His dog did, too.
It was smoke, smoldering in the closet near the sunroom.
"Everything happened in about three minutes," Macklin said.
Macklin was inside with his wife and granddaughter when he realized an electrical fire had started in his closet.
The trio rushed out of the house to safety, and escaped unharmed.
So did the family's 3-year-old dog.
Smoke damaged most of the house, coating the walls from front to back except for a select few areas.
Mar-Mac, Arrington and Dudley fire departments responded and extinguished the blaze.
The American Red Cross was contacted, and Macklin said his family had a place to stay.
Macklin's family and friends aided with cleaning up the house Monday afternoon.
He said it was the second fire he's been in -- there was another at his sister's house in New Jersey in the 1980s. He escaped that one, too.
Both times he smelled the smoke, saw the fire and rushed to safety.
"I'm glad we were home when it happened," Macklin said. "If we would've drove up on it, I think I would've just kept driving past it."