Chadron Fire Claims One Life -UPDATED CLARIFIED

     A fire early Monday morning on the west side of Chadron destroyed one home and claimed one life. 

     Dawes County Attorney/Coroner Vance Haug says an autopsy determined that 58-year old Nanci Hartman died from soot and smoke inhalation, and that her death was accidental.

    Chadron Fire Chief Brandon Martens says when the first truck arrived at the scene about 2:30 am, firefighters found the house fully engulfed in flames with thick smoke and embers pouring out..

    Chief Martens says one of the residents, Andrew Scherbarth, was attempting to reach Hartman, his wife, but was unsuccessful. The heat and flames also kept firefighters from entering the house.

      The fire department’s aerial truck joined the effort, as did a mutual aid response from Crawford, and the fire was limited to the one house.

     The Chadron Housing Authority’s 3-story Heritage Apartments directly north of the house was evacuated as a precaution with the residents allowed to return when the fire was controlled.

     Haug says the Nebraska Fire Marshal’s investigative team from North Platte was contacted to determine the cause of the fire and that its preliminary finding was that the fire was accidental with smoking as the likely cause.

 ORIGINAL STORY    

A fire early Monday morning on the west side of Chadron destroyed one home and claimed one life. The name of the victim has not been released.

    Chadron Fire Chief Brandon Martens says when the first truck arrived about 2:30, firefighters found the house fully engulfed in flames with thick smoke and embers pouring out.

    Chief Martens says one of the residents was attempting to reach the victim, but was unsuccessful. The heat and flames also kept firefighters from entering the house.

      The fire department’s aerial truck joined the effort, as did a mutual aid response from Crawford, and the fire was limited to the one house.

     The Chadron Housing Authority’s 3-story Heritage Apartments directly north of the house was evacuated as a precaution with the residents allowed to return when the fire was controlled.

       An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office was at the scene, but Martens says the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.