Man barely escapes weekend blaze; authorities calling fire ‘suspicious’

A local man is alive today thanks to a quick-thinking neighbor, and the heroic efforts of Corbin firefighters who pulled him through a small, second-story window to safety as deadly flames consumed his home.

The Corbin Fire Department was called to the scene of a house fire at 206 Hatfield Street around 1:39 a.m. Sunday. When they arrived, the residence was already about 50 percent involved in flames. Officials soon learned that the occupant of the home, Kevin Malone, was trapped inside.

Corbin Firefighter Craig Owens, and fellow firefighter Chad Jackson, were the first to enter the house, but had to retreat because the situation was too dangerous. Malone was in an upstairs bathroom.

"We went back out and tried to breach the wall but that didn’t work either," Owens said.

Malone, 25, would have likely died from smoke inhalation if it hadn’t been for the actions of a neighbor, Curtis Smith, who pulled a piece of stove piping from the home and held it against the window so that he could breath fresh air.

It bought time for firefighters. In a last ditch attempt, Owens scaled a 16-foot ladder and was able to pull Malone through a tiny partitioned window.

"He didn’t want to come out the way I was bringing him. He said he was getting cut by the glass but we didn’t really have any other option," Owens said. "He just had to come out that way. It was a tight fit, but he made it."

Owens and Malone went tumbling to the ground, a fall of about 16 feet. Neither was seriously injured due to the fall. Malone was hospitalized to be treated for some cuts and bruises and for smoke inhalation.

Malone was home alone. No one else was injured in the blaze.

Owens said though the fall was from a considerable distance, he was not hurt. One of the most harrowing experiences of his two-year career with the Corbin Fire Department left him sore, but still able to come out for duty this week.

Corbin Police Det. Bill Rose is investigating the cause of the fire. Corbin Fire Chief Barry McDonald said the blaze is "of suspicious origin" and that authorities are questioning the circumstances surrounding the fire.

Rose said Tuesday that Malone lived in the home with his girlfriend and their three children. His girlfriend left earlier in the evening with the children to stay with her grandmother in Barbourville.

Rose said Malone was still hospitalized as of Tuesday, but that he had talked to him about the blaze.

"He said he doesn’t know how it happened. He was in the bathroom and before he knew it, he noticed the house was full of smoke," he said. "Next thing you know, he said the house was getting hot."

Malone was renting the home. Fire officials are estimating it to be a total loss.

A total of 11 firefighters responded to the blaze. They were on scene until around 3:07 a.m.