|
UNION NEWS
September 16, 2004
FIRE LEVELS HOME:
A quiet Saturday night, Sept 11, was interrupted by an explosion @9:30 pm followed by a second explosion then a fire that leveled the home. The house owned by Marc Chlopek was located in Ash Court, Union, NE. The first explosion blew out the rear portion of the basement and the second explosion blew out the front windows of the basement and could be felt a half mile away. The split-level home was than engulfed in flames & leveled in a matter of seconds. The homeowner had just left 30 minutes prior to go to the store so fortunately he wasn’t home. The Union Fire & Rescue Dept arrived within minutes and immediately got the fire contained. Nehawka, Murray & Plattsmouth fire departments, then assisted them. Sadly, the only casualties were Chlopeks 2 cats. The homes on both sides also received damage. One of the homes owned by the Ziegelbein family had the siding melted off the west side of their home, some roof damage & a broken window. The home on the other side owned by the Seyler family received some minor damage too. Firefighter, Rob Kennedy, was taken to St Mary’s’ hospital in Nebraska City to be examined after he inhaled some hot air when his air pack ran out. He was treated & released immediately. The Red Cross arrived around midnight and was giving Chlopek some emergency assistance since he lost everything he owned. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
UNION SAYS FARWELL TO UNION FIREFIGHTER RICK KUBIK:
Rick Kubik age 55 was found dead in his home on Friday, Sept 10 where he lived alone. Neighbors stated the evening before around 8 p.m.; he had finished mowing his lawn & then assisted someone with car trouble. When he didn’t show up to work, his boss, Greg Thumann, went to check on him at approximately 3 p.m.. That is when he was discovered having gone down just after entering his home the night before. Union Rescue was called as was the Cass County Sheriff’s department but nothing could be done. The funeral service has yet to be announced. I will have more memories & stories about Rick in next week’s article.
As you can see, Marc Chlopek’s home in Ash Ct is just a shell after the explosion started the house on fire Saturday night.
This is a view from the neighbor’s yard of Chlopek’s home.
The heat was so intense that this home had the siding melt away from the house fire at Chlopek’s on Saturday evening.
|