Woman burned in fire flown to SLC burn center

Firemen quickly brought the fire under control, but the structure was destroyed.

A young woman was flown to the Salt Lake City burn center Wednesday night following a fire that totally destroyed the home she and her husband were renting at 1360 E. 4th North St. in Mountain Home.

Sara Kless, the wife of Jacob Kless, an airman at Mountain Home Air Force base, had apparently run back into the house to save the couple's dog, after a cooking fire erupted in the kitchen area. While the dog was successfully rescued, Kless suffered second-degree burns on her arms, legs and forehead in the attempt.

A LifeFlight fixed-wing aircraft landed at the local airport later that evening and transferred her to the burn center. Her condition is not known at this time, but the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The first firemen arrived within two minutes of the initial 911 call about the fire, which was received by dispatch at 6:12 p.m., and found the structure already "fully involved in flame" and pouring thick, black smoke into the air.

The fire was controlled by 6:20 p.m. and mop-up operations began at that point. The scene was cleared about an hour later.

The fire department is contributing $1,000 from its burnout fund to help the couple.

Fire chief Alan Bermensolo praised the dispatchers, police, ambulance personnel and other emergency responders for their assistance at the fire, and thanked the public for staying behind the perimeter line established by authorities so the department's equipment and the ambulances could operate at the scene.

For more details, see next week's Mountain Home News.