Portage Co. family recovers from fire - WAOW - Newsline 9, Wausau News, Weather, Sports

A family in Portage County is recovering from a fire that destroyed the inside of their house.

It happened around 4:00 p.m. on Thursday in the town of Dewey.

"The things that meant something to me are gone. They can be replaced. You can remember them," said Norbert Kluck, owner of the house.

He and his family are trying to salvage anything they can from their home.

"The house is pretty much trashed," said Kluck.

He says he started a wood fire in his basement Thursday afternoon and went outside to do some work. A little while later, he noticed smoke coming from his house.

"I tried to get inside, but the smoke was so thick, I couldn't even find a telephone. I just came out of there and my eyes were pinching, so I got my brother-in-law's attention down the road, and he went and called the fire department," said Kluck.

Six fire crews responded to help put out the blaze.

"When you get a call that you have smoke coming out of the eaves and possible flames visible, you know you've got a serious situation," said LeRoy Pukrop, Dewey Fire Chief.

"All I could do was try to stay out of the way and helplessly watch it," said Kluck.

Kluck says he's thankful for the help of the firefighters, the Red Cross and his family and friends.

"Sometimes it brings out the best in people when you go through, like, a tragedy like this," said Kluck.

He says this experience has been difficult, but he's optimistic for the future.

"I think it'll all turn out, but in the meantime, it's just a mess cleaning everything up and looking at a lot of your memories that went up in smoke," said Kluck.