By C.J. Vetter
KYLE – A fire began at a Kyle residence on March 12 and quickly destroyed the entire home. The family, Dean and Michelle Falcon alongside their two dogs, survived the fire, thanks to their door having been closed, sparing them from the carbon monoxide within the house.
The Falcon family had been asleep when the fire started, which quickly filled their home with smoke. Michelle had been the first to wake up and was alerted by smoke filling the air. She alerted her husband, who then tried to open their bedroom door, only to be knocked unconscious by carbon monoxide.
“You ever see that old show, Batman and Robin with Adam West, and they do the little smoke bombs end everybody just falls? That’s how fast it was,” Dean Falcon said. “It’s tasteless, odorless, smokeless.”
The bedroom door having been closed kept the carbon monoxide from entering while they slept, giving the Falcons time to escape. After helping Dean up, Michelle quickly ran to their bedroom window and broke it open, allowing the couple to escape along with their dog, Shirley.
“I dove out of the window, I scraped up my knee pretty bad, my whole leg you know, my side too. And as soon as I landed, I turn around, the bigger dog, who is big enough to see out the window and I grab her by her front paws and yanked her,” Michelle Falcon said. “I thought they were dead.”
However, their other dog, Chalupa, had hidden under their bed alongside a neighbor’s dog. Firefighters later discovered the two dogs still alive, having survived the fire after the home’s floor had collapsed, allowing them to escape the blaze.
“I thought they were dead,” Michelle said. “I kicked the front door open to give them a chance to escape; I wasn’t thinking, just focused on survival.”
Both Michelle and Dean received minor cuts and bruises as they leaped from the window but were able to escape mostly unharmed. They were treated for shock and smoke-inhalation by first responders on the scene, but the house suffered severe fire damage, leaving it uninhabitable.
Following the fire, the Falcons posted on the social media website, Nextdoor, to raise awareness about their incident. They were soon contacted to by local citizen Roy White, who helped set up a GoFundMe account for the Falcons and coordinated efforts to help the family alongside Dee Dee Smiley. White also paid for a motel room and food for the family immediately after the fire.
“Roy was a total stranger, never met him in my entire life and to me, he’s awesome because we need more people like that in the world,” Michelle Falcon said. “He came, bought us the dumpster, took us out for a good meal to eat and got us a motel room for two nights, and he’s a totally awesome guy.”
The Falcons are currently residing in an RV on their property while removing what is left of their former home. Once it is gone, they plan to sell their property and move to a new home, but remain in Kyle. To offer support visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/Help-Heals-Hope.
