Fire departments from Gouldtown and Rosenhayn, as well as a ladder truck from Bridgeton, responded to the scene along with Millville firefighters. Millville Fire Chief Kurt Hess said he gave the approval to the four firefighters to conduct a search of the premises.

In all, 43 firefighters responded to the scene.

"That's what we're trained to do," Hess said. "No matter who I put in that situation, they perform the same way. They had a lot of heat and a lot of smoke, but that's what they were trained for and they didn't flinch."

After rescuing Brown, the men went back a second time to look for her husband, who was not in the home at the time of the fire.

It took hours for the fire, which had rekindled a few times, to be completely extinguished. A home inspector later said the home would need to be torn down.

Rick said nearly everything was destroyed. The only jewelry that he could give to the couple's two daughters was the jewelry Carol was wearing at the time of the fire.

Everything else, with the exception of one room, he said, was gone.

"There wasn't much left of the house but one room, the dining room," he said. "That was Carol's pride and joy."

That is where, he said, his wife kept her treasured collection of angel figurines, which now serves to remind a family of a wife and mother.

In other news:

The Millville Fire Department is adding three captain positions to its roster to, as Commissioner Dave Vanaman said, get the department caught up to date with an eye toward the future.

The move comes, he said, because of a change in the department. Years ago, he said, the semi-volunteer unit had only one or two paid firefighters per shift, but now each shift has four paid firefighters.

The three captains, who will accept the position as provisional captains in a couple of weeks, Vanaman said, will assume supervisory responsibilities. The goal, he said, was to have a supervisor for every shift, every day.

"We always have a crew that can go out the door immediately," he said. "Obviously, the chief and/or the deputy chief might not always be available right away, so this will give supervision to the crew, and once they get on the scene allow them to make the decisions that need to be made."

The appointments are pending testing and necessary publication, Vanaman said, but those men who will likely assume the positions are: Doug Hallquist, Mike Lippincott and John Wettstein III.

E-mail Edward Van Embden:

evanembden@pressofac.com