A family of six escaped from an early Wednesday morning house fire on Alves Street.
The emergency call came to Henderson Dispatch at 2:48 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Henderson Fire Department post on Facebook.
Crews arrived two minutes later, said Matt Anderson, a division chief with the fire department.
When they arrived, firefighters were told a family was inside the two-story structure. Anderson said firefighters entered the house in offensive mode, which entails an aggressive search for those who may be trapped inside.
He said firefighters “searched every square inch” of the house before they received messaging that all family members were accounted for. The family evacuated from a door on the south side of the house, closest to a neighboring house. (An alley runs past the opposite side of the house.)
Anderson said the fire was under control about 30 minutes after the call to dispatch. HFD cleared the scene at about 5:30 a.m., he said.
There were no injuries reported, Anderson said. He did not have the names of the family members available.
The home is the former residence of longtime Gleaner editor, Ron Jenkins, and columnist, Judy Jenkins, and their four children, Jodie, Shane, Jennifer and Josh.
Josh Jenkins said he’s relieved the family who was living there is safe.
He, however, said the loss of the house is like a person died.
“That house’s identity is kind of inseparable from mom and dad,” Josh Jenkins said.
The family lived there from 1973-2021, he said.
Anderson said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
