Woman burned in Champaign house fire dies
UPDATED 9:35 a.m. Friday
CHAMPAIGN — A woman burned in her Champaign home Thursday has died at a Springfield hospital while investigators continue to look for a cause of the fire.
The Sangamon County coroner's office said Herta Toliver, 88, died at 9:44 p.m. Thursday in the burn unit of Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. No autopsy was scheduled and the cause of her death and the fire remains under investigation.
Champaign Fire Department spokeswoman Dena Schumacher said firefighters were called to the fire in a single-story wood framed house at 406 N. Carson St. at 1:33 p.m. Thursday and arrived at the scene five minutes later.
“The home was fully involved, the windows were blown out and fire was coming out of the windows when we arrived,” said Capt. Wayne Huckstadt of the Champaign Fire Department.
On Friday, fire investigator John Koller said he was still working on the case and did not have an apparent cause yet.
Huckstadt said firefighters found an elderly woman in the middle of the house and carried her out.
“It’s one of those situations you wish you weren’t in, and yet you train for every day,” Schumacher said.
The woman was taken by ambulance to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana for treatment of burns and other injuries, Huckstadt said.
Records from the Champaign County Assessor identified Ms. Toliver as the home owner and a neighbor, Dianna Coffin of Champaign, also identified her as the woman who had been removed from the home.
Schumacher said the fire department had notified the woman’s family Thursday afternoon.
A neighbor, Walt Coffin of Champaign, said his son, Clayton Coffin, was on the front porch of their home, saw the smoke and flames and called 911.
“We both tried to get in the front door to rescue her, but there was so much smoke and flames that we couldn’t get in there,” Walt Coffin said. “The fire was coming out the windows and door.”
Huckstadt said firefighters don’t know how or where the fire started.
“I saw some black smoke rolling, and the house was literally engulfed in flames,” said Matt Estock of Champaign, who ran from a nearby tattoo shop to see the fire. “I could smell the smoke from two blocks away, and I could see ashes floating in the air.”
Estock said he watched the firefighters carry the woman out the door and put her on a stretcher.
“It was pretty devastating to see,” he said.
Phillip Curry of Champaign, who lives down the street from the home, said he looked out his window to see the house involved with flames.
“When I got here, it looked like the fire was about to spread to the next house over, but the firefighters did a good job of spraying down the other house to make sure it didn’t get flames,” Curry said.
Schumacher said the firefighters had the fire out by 1:52 p.m. and spent the next hours overhauling the house.
“We are searching to make sure there are no hidden fires. We feel very confident the woman was the only occupant,” Huckstadt said.
Schumacher said there was heavy fire, smoke and water damage to the entire home. She said an investigator was at the scene to try to determine the cause of the fire.
As always, the Champaign Firefighters did a great job rescuing a helpless victim and saving neighbors' property from devistation. Their bravery and dedication is something that we as Champaign residents can be very proud of.
Here's a thought for everyone to ponder though:
Remember all of those threats from City administrators to brown out a fire truck earlier this year? (A matter that's currently tied up in arbitration.) That fire truck they want to brown out was the first due unit for this tragic fire. It's scary to think what may have happened today if the City admin got their way. It's just as scary to think that there's still a chance it could happen!
Also, when it comes to emergency services people always forget to thank the paramedics. They're true professionals who work and train hard to be there and provide highly skilled care in the most challenging of environments, with little to no recognition from the public. We owe thanks to the EMTs and Paramedics too! (I believe the medics at this fire were from Arrow Ambulance.)
Yeahokay... you sound like you might be a firefighter who works for Champaign Fire and isn't going to loose their job with this fire truck being browned out... no. You're just going to loose your overtime pay for staffing an unneeded and underutilized fire truck. Secondly then to you say said fire truck that should be browned out was the first due for this area? Then can you explain why it appears that a fire engine from a different station and area was first on scene? That seems odd doesn't it? Maybe that fire truck was responding somewhere out of the city limits of Champaign in order to increase it's call volume to justify the outrageous expense for purchasing, manning and maintaining such a large expensive piece of fire equipment. Maybe the News Gazette should research how long it takes each and every fire truck in the City of Champaign for the last year to go en route and get on scene and compare it with say the City of Urbana Fire Department. Maybe they should also see some other surrounding fire departments with larger call volumes like Mahomet, Savoy, Rantoul, etc. and compare how long they take to get out of their fire station and on scene and then compare their budgets and ISO ratings to Champaign Fire! That might ruffle a few feathers though that shouldn't be ruffled! The sad part of this story is that a life was lost in this instance but it wouldn't have mattered if there were a thousand fire trucks manned at the closest station now would it. The victim inside was most likely burned and/or exposed to so many toxic gases inside the structure that had she survived it would have been in a state that no one would want to survive. Please don't try to use a tragedy like this lady perishing in a fire to justify a reason for this fire truck to not be browned out. That is just scare tactics and being a fear monger.
My brother, Clayton and my stepfather, Walt, are also heroes. If it wasn't for my family sitting outside on their porch, the firefighters wouldn't have gotten there quickly. They were also trying to get her out, but the smoke was too thick and the flames were really bad. They have known Herta for a long time and are devistasted by this.
What a sad loss for everyone involved. Even though I did not know the victim of the fire, A BIG thanks to the neighbors who tried to rescue her, the Firemen and EMT's. Prayers go out to her family and friends. On another note, really hoping that no first responders are cut. The city can find other ways to save money.
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