Fire destroys house, but her commitment is unsinged

Published 1:19 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

FALL CITY – The bench wasn’t supposed to be there when Gloria Morgan dropped from an open window to the ground below, escaping her house that was swiftly being consumed by flames.

A loud bang had awakened her minutes earlier about midnight Thursday, Aug. 15. As her dog, Mandy, whimpered, the 82-year-old Morgan walked to the basement door to check if something had happened downstairs. She could hear the sizzling before she turned the doorknob.

“The smoke just came – poof! Like a whirlwind,” she said.

It was gritty and pitch black as it rushed upstairs. In moments it was difficult for Morgan to see.

“The smoke was so hot, it sizzled the tips of my hair,” she said.

Backing away from the basement door, her throat stinging from the smoke, Morgan made her way to the telephone to call 911, but she couldn’t make out the numbers. She thought of trying to go out the back door, but that would have required blindly negotiating the living room.

She bumped into the window. It slid open easily and she climbed out. She was prepared for the fall, but not the bench.

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