Three fire departments cooperate to contain rural house fire

ANIWA — “It’s a total loss,” said Beverly Faust, owner of a house at W18776 County Road Z in Aniwa that was consumed by fire Thursday.

According to Faust, she lived there with her son, Jesse, daughter-in-law, Darlene, and 25-year-old grandson, Brett. She explained that her son said he was in the backyard working on a car, looked up and saw the house was on fire.

Birnamwood Fire Chief Randy Berger believes the call came in around 1:30 p.m. According to Berger, fire, ambulance and emergency personnel from Birnamwood, Mattoon and Hewitt were on hand to handle the blaze. The house was destroyed, but the crew was able to extinguish the fire and keep it from spreading.

“It’s a good thing we had all this help,” said Berger. “When everybody works together, it’s a good thing.”

Sean Faust, another son of Jesse and Darlene Faust, was in Wausau when he got the call from a friend who regularly checks in on the family. Though no one was hurt including the family dog, four puppies were stuck in a back room and perished in the fire, according to what Jesse Faust told Sean.

“Dad could hear them whining. He was trying to get to them but couldn’t see through nothing,” said Sean Faust. He said he couldn’t believe the house burned down so fast.

Cause of the fire has not yet been determined.