FIRE DESTOYS HOME AT NEELY'S LANDING

Less than a week after buying an old house a quarter-mile north of Neely's Landing, Warren Seekell came home Thursday evening to find it engulfed in flames. By the time firefighters from Fruitland arrived, it was nothing but flames and twisted sheet metal.

Seekell, 26, and his wife were at work. None of their three children, ages 8, 6 and 8 months, were home.

Marty Schuessler, fire chief of the Fruitland Area Fire Protection District, said he could not tell what caused the fire and would not speculate about it.

Schuessler said the house -- uphill from County Road 525 just east of its intersection with County Road 535 -- had been abandoned for years.

By the time firefighters got there, all they could see were a few concrete steps on one side, a water heater poking up through the charred wood and the burned remains of trees that had grown up next to the house. Two small children's bicycles and a baby stroller sat untouched close to the road near a trailer that could fit on the back of a pickup.

Before the fire, the frame house had tar-paper walls and a sheet metal roof. "That sure cooks it," Schuessler said.

All the firefighters could do was watch and call Citizens Electric Co-op to turn off the electricity.

They had called for tanker trucks, but turned them back when they saw how hopeless it was, Schuessler said. "When they're that far gone, you're not going to save anything."

Seekell said Citizens Electric had only hooked up electricity to the three-bedroom house Thursday.

Seekell said his family would be staying with relatives.

Schuessler said he would contact the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army to help the family out.

"We're young and strong enough," Seekell said. "We're not looking for charity."

"This won't be charity," Schuessler said.

Seekell said he was glad his wife and children weren't home for the fire. "There was someone in there -- a whole bunch of people's dreams," he said.