| Merrillville fire victims remain critical February 5, 2008 By Piet Levy Post-Tribune staff writer A former Post-Tribune correspondent is recuperating at a Chicago-area burn unit following a Sunday fire that destroyed her home. Alyce Jarman's husband, William, who was also injured in the blaze, is not expected to survive, according to Jeff Roseboom, investigator for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Division of Fire and Building Safety. A preliminary investigation shows the fire, which broke out shortly after 7 p.m. at 7825 Marshall Place, spread from the living room near a couch. Roseboom said it was accidental and that smoking may have had something to do with it. More than a dozen firefighters responded, extinguishing the blaze within a half-hour, said Ross Township Fire Service Chief Perry Herzog. Nevertheless, the Jarman family's single-story, ranch-style home was destroyed. Roseboom said Alyce Jarman, 68, was found near the back door in the kitchen, and William, 78, was found sprawled between the living room and kitchen. He said the victims suffered from smoke inhalation and bad burns. They were transported to the Methodist Hospitals in Merrillville, then airlifted to the burn unit at Loyola University Health System in Maywood, Ill. A hospital spokeswoman said both were in critical condition as of Monday afternoon. Alyce Jarman wrote hundreds of stories for the Post-Tribune, between 1998 and 2004, about a variety of topics, from community events to health issues. Her husband of 30-plus years was a retired employee of the Ford Motor Co. in Chicago Heights, Ill., said her daughter, Diana Rodgers. Rodgers was en route from Crawfordsville to Maywood after being notified of the fire at work Monday morning. She said her mother and step-father were enjoying retirement. He often tinkered on a computer and played golf; she liked to garden and enjoyed lunches with friends. The pair have a new granddaughter, Lexi, born in November that they have yet to see. Rodgers said her stepfather suffered burns over 33 percent of his body. Her mother was burned over 15 percent of her body and was breathing through a tube. On the way to the hospital, Rodgers and her brother passed by their mother's home, and saw the wreckage that remained. "It's just a big mess," Rodgers said. Now she's hoping her mother and stepfather pull through. "It's going to be a rough night." Contact Piet Levy at 648-3102 or plevy@post-trib.com |
| Fire injures M'ville couple after neighbors see smoke February 4, 2008 Post-Tribune staff reports MERRILLVILLE -- Flames engulfed the home of an elderly Merrillville couple Sunday evening. Three Merrillville fire engines and more than a dozen fire fighters responded to the the home of William and Alyce Jarman, 7825 Marshall Place, after neighbors reported a fire in the house. Merrillville Fire Chief George Valand said both victims were badly burned, but were alive when they were taken by ambulance to Broadway Methodist Hospital in Merrillville. Hospital officials did not have a condition report on the couple by press time, but both were set to be transferred to a burn center due to their condition. Valand said the couple were rescued from the kitchen area of their one-story ranch-style home. Extensive smoke damage was reported in the basement, but fire officials said that no cause for the fire had been determined yet. The family dog was able to escape. |
| These are pictures of William and Alyce Jarman's house. Information will be posted as soon as I get it. Please keep Brother Jarman and his wife in your thoughts. |
| Hi! I am Melissa, Gene Jarman's grand-daughter. I live just south of Birmingham Alabama. I want to tell you that I have no idea who any of you are that are reading this. However, I do know that he must have known you as friends/family or through Ford Motor Company. I feel that he has a great group of people as part of the Ford family. It is, in fact, because of you and all of your emails that I become aware of the fire. So I want to thank all of you for the contact you had with my grandfather, because without y'all I might still not know about this fire. I wanted to give y'all an update on them. They are both VERY SEVERELY burned. Both are sedated and unable to respond at this point. Their hands and heads are probably the worst of the burns. They are stable but still critical. Alice's vital signs look good. Granddad's are kinda jumpy. His heart rate is somewhat irratic which makes his blood pressure flucuate as well. Alice is on a ventilator via a tube down her throat, while Grandad's throat was too swollen so he has a trach for his ventilator. The doctors started physical therapy on them today, just to keep what's movable moving. The doctors move for them but as they become more consious, Grandad and Alice will be sitting and standing on their own. Their prognosis is just day to day. However the doctors say they will be sedated for several weeks and in the hospital for long after that. This is going to be a very slow process. I am here in Chicago as I write but will be heading back to Alabama tomorrow. I assume that some of you are in this area and I would like a) for continual prayers for both of them, and b) someone to go by the hospital and just check on them and pray over them. I have contacted a local church to do the same but I know he would like to have some of his friends near him. I believe that he does feel our presence and can hear us talk to him. The doctors won't tell me that he can hear us but I believe God has His hand on them and He will take care of them. Please let me know if you can assist the family in this matter since we will be several hours away from them. Thank you and God Bless! Melissa Leverett |
| Brother Jarman |
| I am Chad, Melissa's husband. Melissa wanted me to e-mail everyone and ask someone for help. Gene has a big dog (male) which he loved dearly. The dog is at the police department but needs a home. Melissa does not want to take the dog to a shelter and/or give it to just anyone 1) because she wants to make sure someone will care for the dog and 2) if Gene recovers from this she wants him to know where the dog is so her can visit the dog or take him back in. If anyone can help with caring for the dog please let us know. Melissa wanted me to let you know that it would be a very long time or for the rest of the dogs life. Thank you in advance, Chad |
The following are emails I have received from the family. Please Help if you can.
| Hello everyone! I just wanted to update you on Gene (AndyBill) and Alyce Jarman. The doctors have stopped giving the sedation meds and are awaiting response. As of now, 4:30 Friday afternoon, they haven't made any type of respose. Once Grandad makes any movement/response, a cardiologist and neurologist will make an assessment. The doctors are concerned about possible brain damage beause his lungs were filled with so much smoke, they don't know if or how long his brain didn't recieve oxygen. If anyone wants to visit him he is at Loyola Hospital in the west suburbs of Chicago. He is in the burn ICU. He is in Room 7342 and Alyce is in 7341. I will continue to keep everyone updated as any changes occur. I continue to thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I also thank those of you that donated money for him. I'm very thankful he has friends that care for him so much! In Him, Melissa |
| CaringBridge is a great web site that allows family of patients to communicate with friends and family. Click the Icon to visit the Jarman Page. |
| 3/9/08 I wanted to let all of you know about the arrangements for Gene Jarman. Some of you may already know, he passed away last evening. His memorial services will be held at Calumet Park Funeral Home and Cemetery. The visitation will be on Tuesday March 11th from 4-8pm. Graveside service will be held on Wednesday March 12th at 10am. I hope that I am able to meet many of his friends for y'all have shown such great support. Please forward this on the any that may have know him. Feel free to email me if you have any question or need directions or anything. The address for the funeral home is: 7535 Taft Street Merrillville IN 46410. Hopefully, a memorial service in the Birmingham area will soon follow. God Bless, Melissa Leverett |