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Fire destroys building at Storybook Ranch
Photo courtesy of First Response Photography - Firefighters responded to a fire at Storybook Ranch on Thursday night, which destroyed an events facility adjacent to the main house. An employee in an apartment on the second floor of the building was rescued and unharmed.
By Kelley Chambers, kchambers@starlocalnews.com, @KelleyChambers7 on Twitter
McKinney firefighters responded Thursday night to a structure fire at Storybook Ranch off Custer Road, in which an employee was trapped in an upstairs apartment where the blaze began.
The individual called 911 at about 8:30 p.m. and reported that the entire floor of his apartment was full of smoke, said Stacie Durham, spokeswoman for the McKinney Fire Department. The man told dispatchers he was in an apartment above the Wild Bill's & Calamity Jane's events and entertainment facility, which stood adjacent to the ranch's main house.
"The reporting person stated that he smelled smoke and when he attempted to investigate, he was unable to escape due to the dense smoke outside his door," Durham stated in a release on Friday. "He immediately closed the door and proceeded to a window, but was unable to open or to break it. Fire crews used axes to break the window."
As of Friday morning, the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
Fire Chief Danny Kistner called the response an "outstanding rescue" that saved a life and also prevented the fire from spreading to nearby structures.
"This incident reinforces the importance of working smoke alarms, as well as having and practicing an escape plan," Durham said. "Audible smoke alarms could have warned the individual of the danger earlier and through practicing an escape plan, the situation with the window may have been identified and corrected. These two simple things would have greatly increased the survivability of this fire. While we were able to safely rescue this resident, the outcome could have been much different."
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