MILLS — Three of the five members of an extended family who lived in a mobile home in this Casper suburb were still shellshocked Tuesday while standing outside what was left of their home.
A morning fire Monday gutted more than half their home. And thankful no one was hurt in the blaze, their lives have been radically upended.
Johanna Clark said her father, Ben Mason, along with her daughter, Lakadia Summers, 17, grandson Ridek Clark, 16, her sister and a niece lived there. Clark said her dad bought the mobile home new 40 years ago and it had been on the lot for the past 20 years.
“Now we are trying to find shelter, clothes, food, generators and plastic,” she said. “We are going to start all over. The only thing salvageable is the land.”
Johanna said the family had woke up and had breakfast, and three people had left for work while the teens prepared for their day. Everybody has jobs.
“We are thinking that it started in the walls,” Summers said. “Earlier that morning … we smelled smoke, but did not think anything of it.”
Teen Calls 911
While the older members of the household had already left for work, Summers and Ridek Clark were preparing for their day about 10 a.m. when they saw flames.
Summers said there were boxes and other flammable items on a deck that caught fire. That fire ignited an exterior wall, which then spread through the home.
Summers called 911 while Ridek used his phone to notify family members.
“My dad was working up on the mountain and he beat everybody here,” Johanna said.
But there was little anyone could do as the flames spread and the teens evacuated.
Firefighters arrived from the Natrona County Fire District, and towns of Mills and Bar Nunn. According to a news release from the fire district, crews knocked down the exterior fire and then went inside.
“The fire attempted to extend through the attic space, fueled by high winds, but progress was stopped and the fire knocked down,” the news release says.
Johanna said the bedrooms and area on the south half of the home were heavily damaged and the teens lost nearly all of their possessions. Her father’s area sustained smoke damage.
Ridek said his grandfather had just completed remodeling projects on the home’s bathrooms.
Firefighters believe the source of the fire involved an extension cord that stretched from the mobile to an adjacent travel trailer. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Flames quickly moved through a Mills, Wyoming mobile home on Monday. Firefighters from three departments worked to put out the blaze. (Courtesy Natrona County Fire Department Fire Marshal Chris Cody) 
Flames quickly moved through a Mills, Wyoming mobile home on Monday. Firefighters from three departments worked to put out the blaze. (Courtesy Natrona County Fire Department Fire Marshal Chris Cody)
Help Needed
“The Red Cross is having a hard time finding funds for anything right now,” Johanna said. “I’ve been on the phone for the past two days. It’s just hard, it’s devastating.”
While a news release said the family is being provided hotel rooms, Johanna said there are no rooms available because of the National College Finals Rodeo and other events happening in Casper.
Monday night, Ridek went to a friend’s house, Summers and her aunt slept in an older travel trailer sitting beside the mobile home, and Johanna said her dad slept in his truck.
Summers and Ridek, who have been raised by Mason and his late wife, said it is hard to imagine going someplace else. The memories of their grandmother, Mason’s wife who died two years ago, remained strong in their home.
“When grandma passed away all we had was the house and the memories associated with it,” Summers said.
Ridek recalled all the work his grandfather put into the mobile home over the years.
“From the back porch to the front porch, to the fences, my (grandfather) built it himself,” he said. “So, the biggest loss is his work. He now has nothing to show for it because his roof caved in.”
Insurance Adjuster Coming
Johanna said an insurance adjuster is supposed to arrive in two or three days. Efforts to salvage items have been difficult.
“But they don’t want us in the dwelling no longer than a 15- to 20-minute period because of smoke inhalation and insulation everywhere,” she said. “So that makes it harder for them to get stuff that survived.”
Natrona County Fire District Fire Marshal Chris Codey determined that an electrical short from an extension cord to be the cause of the fire. However, Johanna said an extension that ran from the mobile home to the little camper trailer was a $250 cord and was supposed to be adequate.
“They are thinking that it originally started in the wiring or came from the electrical outlet,” Johanna said.
Clark said she is looking for a fifth-wheel camper that the family might be able to buy for the short term. There now is no electricity, water or bathroom facilities at the site.
People who want to donate clothing or other goods to help the family may call Johanna Clark to get sizes and needs at 307-247-1804. She said in addition to clothes, the family could use shoes. Summers wears a women’s size 7, and Ridek a men’s size 9.
Summers said the next step is hard to imagine.
“If something happened somewhere else, we always had this to fall back on,” Summers said of their home. “It still feels like it has not happened, like I am just going to wake up and it’s going to be a dream.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
