In a span of less than four days, two unrelated fires destroyed a pair of houses on North Bent Street.

No one was seriously injured, but multiple people lost their homes, four pets died and thousands of dollars worth of property was lost between the two blazes. In an odd coincidence, the homes sit only about two blocks apart.

It’s unclear what caused either of the two fires — one started next to a resident’s chair on Wednesday, the other in a kitchen on Sunday morning — and Powell Fire Chief Cory Baker said they’re a reminder of the real threat posed by fires.

“It can happen to anyone at any time,” Baker said, urging residents to take steps to protect their homes.

Sunday morning blaze

Sunday morning’s fire started around 10:45 a.m. at 448 N. Bent St. The roughly 80-year-old house contains three different apartments.

A resident in a downstairs unit in the front of the house had been sleeping at the time, awaking to find the kitchen “just full of flames,” said Baker. It’s possible that she was stirred by the sound of a smoke detector, as the chief said at least one was tripped by the flames.

The occupant made it out of the apartment barefoot wearing a sheet, covered in black ashes. Powell EMTs led her to the back of a nearby ambulance and she was later taken to the hospital.

Powell firefighters fought the blaze well into Sunday afternoon. The contents of the home were all claimed by the fire — along with two pet cats and two dogs belonging to one of the tenants.

Eboni Jackson and her 3-year-old son, Jonathyn, lived in the upstairs unit. After hearing  a smoke alarm and approaching fire trucks, Jackson went to the main floor and found the doorknob hot to the touch, said her grandmother Kitty Nettie. Then Jackson smelled the smoke.

She raced to get Jonathyn and their mixed-breed puppy Penny, escaping with only the clothes on their backs. Luckily, they had a couple of towels and two T-shirts in their vehicle, but lost everything else as the fire spread through the complex on the bitter cold day.

Jackson’s grandparents took them in until they can find a new place. They’ve also started a GoFundMe page, which had nearly $2,500 in donations within 24 hours. “Eboni and Johnny have been blessed with friends reaching out to help. Everybody’s been very generous,” said Nettie.

While it appears the fire started in that kitchen area, the damage dealt by the fire made it “really hard” to determine the source of ignition, Baker said.

Jackson’s downstairs neighbors lost two dogs and two cats in the fire.

Wednesday night fire

The first fire broke out on Wednesday night at 624 N. Bent St., apparently starting near an elderly resident’s chair as she slept.

Fortunately, a man in the house spotted “smoke and possibly flames coming from under her chair,” Powell Fire Chief Corey Baker said of reports at the scene. “He realized what was happening [and] helped her out.”

Two dogs also made it to safety.

The Powell Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the residence at 7:24 p.m. They and other first responders found the front of the house engulfed in flames. By roughly 7:31 p.m., they had most of the visible flames knocked down.

Baker called the speedy response by the volunteer squad “outstanding.”

“We had some guys putting up Christmas lights at the [fire] hall, so that definitely sped things up,” the chief said.

Given the close quarters between the houses in that area of Bent Street, Baker said there “definitely” was a threat of the fire spreading to an adjacent home.

“We always worry about that when those houses are close together like that,” he said.

Meanwhile, the home’s occupants were checked out by Powell Valley Hospital EMTs at the scene. Police said they found another place to stay on Wednesday night and the American Red Cross offered assistance.

Along with the fire department and ambulance crew, two Powell police officers and a sheriff’s deputy assisted with the initial response, while a trooper with the Wyoming Highway Patrol helped control traffic on Bent and Sixth streets.

Firefighters and other emergency personnel were summoned back to the home around 12:15 a.m. Thursday, after an apparent hot spot rekindled in the attic area.

“Because of the threat of it continuing to rekindle, we went ahead and pulled that ceiling all the way down and went in there and made sure everything was out,” Baker said, estimating the department spent roughly another hour at the scene.

As for the cause, that remains something of a mystery.

“After overhauling everything, it’s hard to really put that back together,” Baker said, noting the extensive damage to the home. The structure is 868 square feet and was built in 1933, according to county records.

The woman reported that the fire might have had something to do with her oxygen machine, the chief said, but firefighters did not find any indications that the machine malfunctioned.

Safety tips

Smoke detectors were present at both houses.

“You just can’t stress enough to have working smoke alarms,” Baker said. “It’s priceless.”

Amid cooler temperatures, he also encouraged residents to take other precautions aimed at reducing fire risks.

With furnaces, hot water heaters and other appliances running more than they did in the summer months — and some residents breaking out space heaters — the chief said it’s a good idea to keep an eye on all of those pieces of equipment.

“Make sure there’s nothing around your heaters, make sure there’s no garbage and debris stacked around your hot water heaters, stuff like that,” Baker said. “It’s just a good time of year to check all that stuff out.”