Western Railroad Discussion > Rekindled fire destroys Bob Melbo's House

Rekindled fire destroys house

By Jennifer Moody
Albany Democrat-Herald





Firefighters from six departments worked to save half of a house at 34254 Kamph Road northeast of Albany on Tuesday night, only to be called back out after the blaze rekindled and destroyed the rest of it.

Chief Don Bemrose of the Jefferson Rural Fire Protection District said he's seen something similar just twice in his 22-year firefighting career.

"We pulled the ceiling down, there were heat-imaging cameras being used. We had nothing. We felt comfortable the fire had been extinguished," Bemrose said this morning as firefighters doused the wreckage yet again. "It's a head-scratcher."

Fire department spokeswoman Elaine Shinn gave this account:

Robert Melbo, 61, was home alone about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday when he smelled smoke. His first thought was that a fan at the top of the stairs had a problem.

Melbo is the former president of the Willamette & Pacific Railroad and works for the Rail Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

He has a broken foot, so he crawled to the top of the stairs to check, but the fan was fine. His wife, Barbara Melbo, 45, got home about 6 p.m. and found the upstairs bedroom door was warm and the room was full of smoke. She called 911.

Kamph Road has no fire hydrants in the area, so seven tenders shuttled water for the firefighters to work. Forty firefighters responded in all, from Jefferson, Albany, Aumsville, Turner, Scio and Stayton.

Access also was difficult because the home was full of stored items, Bemrose said. Nevertheless, he said, firefighters worked hard to put out the flames while using canvas and tarps to minimize water damage and save the older, front section of the home.

At about 1:15 this morning, Bemrose said, firefighters wrapped up. They had extinguished every hot spot they could find, even pulling down plaster to look for more.

Then, at 3:30, they got a call from a neighbor that the front half of the home was now ablaze.

"The only thing I can figure was there was a pocket somewhere we didn't see," Bemrose said. "To come out here and see this after so much hard work was very discouraging for all of us."

The 3,700-square-foot home had two stories and a partial basement. The front section was built in 1920 and a rear added in 1980. It was insured.

The Melbos were not injured, nor were the four or five dogs they own, Shinn said. They are staying in a motel at the moment and have declined Red Cross help. Firefighters gave them money from the volunteer burnout fund.

Firefighters were able to move a Jeep parked on the south side of the house. The fire also did not spread to a caboose on the east side of the property, where the Melbos' grown daughter lives.

Brenda Serle, who lives next door, came out to serve hot chocolate to the firefighters as they worked the second time. She runs an adult foster care home for five women, and was worried she would have to evacuate.

"Let me tell you, I was sweating," she said. "I thought for sure those trees are gone. There was a huge cloud of amber going straight up."

"They did a great job, I tell you," she added of the firefighters. "Praise the Lord nobody was hurt."

P

He was a SP Trainmaster out of Portland, no?

Bob Melbo was the Superintendent of the SP's Oregon Division until the creation of the Willamette and Pacific. He became the W&P's General Manager.
mdo

Bob is one nice person. First met him through Andrew Fox years ago on 4449 trips in Oregon. Was able to help him out in KFalls on one of the trips. He needed to get around town and had no car there and was able to give him a lift. Good guy. Sorry to hear about his house.

J.

J.Ferris Wrote:
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> Bob is one nice person.

Also a very good rail operating manager. Morale exhibited on this list would a lot higher if there were many more like him.

rob_l Wrote:
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> J.Ferris Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bob is one nice person.
>
> Also a very good rail operating manager. Morale
> exhibited on this list would a lot higher if there
> were many more like him.
>
>

How true. I have known him for many years and would have liked to have him for a supervisor. From what I have observed, he has always treated his employees like human beings rather than like a piece of machinery that doesn't even need oiling, the way that is done by so many railroad managers. My wife had the pleasure of teaching his daughter when she was in preschool.

I, too, met him on a 4449 excursion and was impressed with his patience with railfans while getting a job done.