Woman freed from home blaze

GRAND MARAIS — The roof of a mobile home at 1311 Marais St. caught fire Wednesday morning, trapping an elderly woman inside until her grandson could come and help her out.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

Audrey Landry, who had just returned from the hospital recovering from pneumonia, said she was in the shower when she heard the fire alarm around 8:30 a.m.

When Landry got out she heard some popping. She put some clothes on, saw the kitchen was on fire and called her grandson, who lives next door, as she tossed a cup of water at the sliding glass doors, which had melted, to try and open them.

“That’s all I could do,” she said, swaddled in blankets, a small dog in her lap. “I couldn’t think of nothing else.”

Her grandson, Kenny Rogers, came and helped her out of the home.

“(The fire) was on the roof,” said Rogers. “No-thing inside is burnt.”

Audrey “Pee Wee” Hebert and her husband Christopher “Buck” Hebert also live in the house. Audrey Hebert was at work when she got the call.

“It was pretty serious,” said Capt. Cla-rence Clark of the Grand Marais Fire De-partment.

Capt. Mike Vincent of Fire District No. 1 said the structure was “a total loss.”

The fire wasn’t in any rooms, he said, but it covered the entire roof. Firefighters had to pull the entire ceiling down, and a combination of water and smoke ruined everything.

Vincent said it appears to have been caused by something electrical, but the cause is still under investigation.