Sifting through charred debris; firefighter Wes Morgan finds beloved turtle after Sumpter Home Fire
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Friday, October 11th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
SUMPTER- Earlier this week multiple agencies were called to reports of a structure fire in Sumpter, and, while this story was tragic, a piece of silver lining has emerged. According to Firefighter Wes Morgan, while meeting with the fire investigator, he was able to meet the owners of the home that had been destroyed in the fire. Morgan recounts that while telling the couple how sorry he was and asking if there was anything he could do, he was asked if he could try and locate the bodies of the couple’s two pets, a Turtle named Pakwaan and a Tarantula named Sally.
“I could tell they were really attached to these pets as Ananda broke down sobbing as she explained that finding Sally would not be imaginable, but she thought at least the shell of Pakwaan, as he was in a water tank in the front room.
I thought there is no way since the building was totally burned and collapsed, but I mentioned this to Kurt Clark, Sumpter’s Fire Chief, and Al Jones, Sumpter Fire Volunteer. Well Al spotted the tank near a corner of the collapsed front room, so Kurt got his Telehandler forklift and was able to lift a section of the collapsed ceiling just enough for me to get to the tank. Well after removing charred wood and insulation from the 2/3 full tank of water my glove had felt a moving object….it was Pakwaan, very much alive! I have never seen anyone so emotional and overwhelmed as when I handed Pakwaan to Ananda and Jeff… We were all in tears.”
Morgan noted that he would like to say “the response to this fire from the county fire departments was overwhelming.
Sumpter Volunteer Fire Dept, Powder River Rural Fire, Baker Rural Fire, Baker City Fire, Keating Fire (Buzz Harper), Bowen Valley Fire, North Powder Fire, Oregon Department of Forestry, Baker County Sheriff’s Office, and the local Sumpter Citizens!”
