Woman hurt in Smelterville fire

An elderly woman was pulled from her burning home in Smelterville Thursday afternoon when her neighbor smelled the fire and leapt into action.

Hazel Dapron, 92, accidentally dropped a few rolls of toilet paper in the washer and wanted to dry them. Two of them she put outside to dry in the sun, but one roll she tried drying in her microwave oven. Mark Aamodt, Kellogg Fire Department chief, confirmed that caused the fire.

Rhonda Chambers, Dapron's granddaughter, said her grandmother only experienced minor injuries.

She said Dapron burned her fingers trying to put out the fire, and burned the top of her head and the back of her shoulders, causing them to blister. Dapron was immediately transported to Shoshone Medical Center following the event, but was later taken to Harborview Medical Center.

Tom Rose lives across from Dapron on H Street. Rose said he grabbed Dapron, hauled her outside and ran into his house to call 911.