Christmas night, the alertness of neighbor children smelling smoke may have saved lives of a family as their chimney caught fire at their residence in the Good Shepherd area Brownwood.
Neighbors Kim and Bryan Harvey stated that their 6-year-old daughter Kinnison and 5-year-old son Braylon came into the living room around 10:30pm to tell their parents that they smelled smoke and thought their own home might be on fire. As the Harvey’s checked their own home, they alerted neighbor Chuck Harris who quickly helped to try and locate the fire. The two families found that it wasn’t either of their homes but a neighbor’s just a few homes down whose chimney was producing a lot of smoke.
The Koopmans said that they usually light their fireplace to keep their home warm during the night and had gone to bed for the evening. Bryan Harvey just happens to be a fireman and said that he noticed it wasn’t the typical fire smell, but the smell of a house burning and there was just too much smoke. The neighborhood was filled with smoke which could be seen several blocks away.
When the Harveys saw the smoke they called to check on the Koopmans who told them they had just lit a fire and that nothing was wrong.
“Something made me go outside and when I looked, I saw the flames,” said Mrs. Koopman.
Harvey also saw the flames and came back to the Koopmans house to help. The Koopmans said that they didn’t know where to start fighting the fire which now had flames shooting about three feet out of the top of the chimney. They were afraid to open the insert which might cause the flames to shoot into the house. Meanwhile, the Koopmans’ front yard quickly filled with neighbors and passersby trying to help and who were already calling 9-1-1.
Harvey and another neighbor climbed onto the roof with a garden hose and a fire extinguisher. They were able to contain the fire until Brownwood Fire Department arrived 3 minutes and 48 seconds later (according to BFD reports) and completely extinguished the flames.
“It seemed like forever when you are waiting. I think them being here and having the fire extinguisher helped keep the flames down and saved my roof or it would have gone from there,” said Mrs. Koopman. “For the neighbors next door to be gone and the smoke to travel down to the Harveys’ home where Bryan could tell that this was not a normal fireplace burning smell alerting him that something was up, that was just a God thing.”
Mrs. Koopman said the neighbors stayed on the roof until the Brownwood Fire Department could arrive.
“They remained on the roof until fire crews arrived. Several people from the neighborhood stopped to check on us and to offer help,” said Mrs. Koopman. “Then as quick as it all started, everyone was gone.”
After the flames were out and everything was back to normal, the Koopmans tried to settle in for the night, but Mrs. Koopman stated that she prayed to God to keep her awake to make sure they were safe for the night. She said she felt an angel wake her as a warning.
“I was awakened about 4:00am after going to bed around 12:30am. Still groggy, I asked the Lord to not let me go back to sleep,” said Mrs. Koopman. “As I lay in bed, I heard an audible voice yell, “Hey!!” It was one of those sounds in the night that awakens every nerve…so I got up.”
She walked by the fireplace and didn’t see a problem because the insert hid the hot embers and she made some coffee then walked back by and noticed the hot embers again ignited.
“When I passed by the fireplace, I noticed red, burning coals but no flame. On the second pass by, there were flames. It was too hot for me to be comfortable with it so I called the fire department to come out again to make sure it was out.”
She then woke her husband and they were able to extinguish the reignited coals. Mrs. Koopman reported that the fireplace surface had reached a temperature so high that you could not hold your hand to it. It took approximately 30 minutes for it to cool back down.
Mrs. Koopman’s cousin, Paul Sessler of Early who does chimney repair and cleaning, came that next morning and cleaned out the creosote that had built up and caused the fire. They said that they learned the hard way that homeowners should clean their fireplaces about every two years. Since the fire, several of the Koopmans’ friends, neighbors and family members have decided to clean their own chimneys as well, just to be safe. Mrs. Koopman reported that the fireplace was not damaged from the fire, just needed some cleaning, that she and her husband have already used it again and had no problems.
The Koopmans met several neighbors, including the Harvey and Harris families, at a party held in their neighborhood during the National Night Out event in October of this year. They said that they are all thankful to have met such caring neighbors that now can watch out for each other.
“It brought to mind the National Night Out event we participated in. God was working on this from back then,” said Mrs. Koopman.
Harvey said he and Harris did nothing out of the ordinary, just what anyone would have done for their neighbors.
“It was just neighbors helping neighbors, really what anyone would have done for their neighbors,” said Harvey.
The Koopman family said that they are very thankful for God’s protection through neighbors and all of the other help He sent, including His angels. Mrs. Koopman praised God for a happy ending to an incident which could have ended in tragedy.
“The angels were busy at our house last night. Thank you Lord and the Harvey family and all those who jumped right in to help,” said Mrs. Koopman.
Pictured above (left to right) are neighbors Chuck Harris, Susan Koopman, Kinnison Harvey, Bryan Harvey and Braylon Harvey.
