Out Door Brick Fire Pit

Residents safe in Glen Ellyn home fire

Glen Ellyn resident Kevin Micklo may not have a lot of answers for what the future holds for his family over the next few months now that they are homeless. But the 43-year-old father of two knows this: Smoke detectors save lives.

Glen Ellyn resident Kevin Micklo may not have a lot of answers for what the future holds for his family over the next few months now that they are homeless. But the 43-year-old father of two knows this: Smoke detectors save lives.

“There’s no question without them, we’d all be dead,” a visibly shaken Micklo told The Sun Monday afternoon as he spoke with media for the first time about the early morning fire that appears to have destroyed his two-story home at 555 Dawes Ave. in Glen Ellyn.

Officials determined the fire was caused by a smoldering fire pit Micklo put under the house after he thought it had cooled down.

“We woke up about 4:20 this (Monday) morning, and my wife and I got our children out of the house. I was dressed in only my underwear and a T-shirt. By 4:30, the police and fire departments were here, and a fire was already well under way in the back of the house.”

In what has been called “probably the worst residential fire in the past year or two” by fire officials, neighbors and friends have continued to offer support, food and clothing to Micklo, his wife, Erin, their daughter Maggie, 12, and son Emmett, 9.

Micklo said he used the fire pit Saturday night and let it burn out the entire next day before storing in under the stairs behind his house.

“... The pit was cool to the touch, and I even threw the ash out,” he said. “I then put the fire pit under the stairs in an open area where I always store it. Apparently a coal or something was still going, and I did not see it. There is mulch and other flammable items we store there, and they must have caught fire.”

The strong smell of smoke and charred wood were evident Monday afternoon as both police and firefighters stood outside the perimeter of the Micklo house while work crews erected a temporary fence around the property.

Bob Pendzinski, foreman of the Joliet-based Rent-a-Fence company, described the fire as “horrible” and one of the worst he has seen.

“We started putting up the fence around noon and have spent maybe three hours so far on the job,” he said. “There is a hydraulic brace on the back of the house keeping it place, or the entire house would collapse. I understand they plan to demolish it tomorrow.

Finding My Aloha: Painting patio and firepit furniture + outdoor ...

Summer is here and it is time to enjoy the out of doors! We are working with a small backyard in our new house here in Alaska. We already have patio furniture but it is tired, rusty, and even has chipping paint is some places. While we have a seating around the firepit, it doesn't match our patio table and chairs. Our old yard was a big enough space that you didn't notice it but now that we have much smaller quarters it stuck out like a sore thumb. The first sunny day in late Spring, I went to Lowes and armed myself with spray paint and primer. I thought about making them into design statements with white enamel or going for a real punch of color. Given the fact that we are dealing with a postage stamp sized backyard I decided it needed to be something more neutral to keep it from being too busy back there. I love how antiqued brass is making a comeback and thought it might be a neutral yet beautiful design solution. I chose Rustoleum's Antique Brass spray paint. I also bought Rustoleum white primer, but if I had it to do again, I actually wouldn't have used it. Shocking, I know! I found that the set I primed needed many more coats of the Antique Brass to get a smooth finish. I went through many more cans of paint than I would have if I hadn't primed. Even though I applied very even coats of primer, the difference between the black chairs and the white primer showed through and thus used up more paint. The chairs in the last photo were not primed and the finish looks exactly the same as the final product on the firepit set. Less paint and less time. I love that all the furniture matches now! The cushions aren't my first choice but they fit this year's budget. I got the seat cushions for the table and chairs set for $7 each on clearance at Target. I salvaged a couple cushions for the firepit chairs but the bench cushions were hopeless. Buying premade bench cushions was going to run about $150-200! Buying foam to make my own bench cushions was going to be about $120! So, when I saw these outdoor "floor cushions" on clearance for $10 each at Target I knew what I needed to do...

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