Woman arrested after police say she hid during a house fire

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - A Grand Island woman was arrested over the weekend after police said she hid with a child during a house fire.

It happened just before 3 p.m. on Saturday in the 600 block of South Eddy Street.

Grand Island Fire responded to a structure fire called in by neighbors reporting smoke and flames on the side of the house.

Battalion Chief Scott Kuehl said a smoker/grill was too close to the side of the house and started the siding on fire.

Crews were able to get the fire put out quickly and the fire didn’t extend into the house. It caused an estimated $7,500 in damages.

Grand Island Police say a man said he was the only occupant of the house but eventually said there were more inside.

GIFD did a sweep of the home and eventually located people inside.

One of them was 35-year-old Jessica Fountain, who police say was hiding under blankets inside a closet with a 4-year-old child.

Fountain had an active Hall County warrant.

GIFD said they called out multiple times to clear the home and due to standard procedure had their self-contained breathing apparatus masks on when they went in to search, where there was a little haze due to the smoke.

Fountain told police she didn’t hear firefighters call out and denied she was hiding.

Police said she put the child in a potentially dangerous situation depending on if the fire was eventually put out successfully or the smoke could have impacted the child’s breathing.

She was taken into custody.