BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN - As he tried to break down the door of the burning house Thursday to rescue his friend and landlady, he could hear her calling his name.
"Merle, Merle, Merle."
But the roaring flames and thick smoke thwarted Merle Brown's attempt to save the life of Darlene Hall.
The 61-year-old woman, a partially blind diabetic, died when the early-morning fire raged through her 1504 Taylor Ave. home as she slept.
"I tried to save her. I tried so hard," said Mr. Brown, 38, a lifelong family friend who has lived in the basement apartment for about 18 months.
His voice broke.
"When I kicked the front door, it swung open and the flames were right there. I've never seen smoke so thick.
"I just did what anyone would do. But I just couldn't get to her." As he tried, firefighters arrived. Within two minutes they had removed Ms. Hall from just inside the front window of her burning bedroom, said Capt. Jack Williamson.
But it was too late. Ms. Hall, with burns over at least half her body, died shortly after being taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. The body of her beloved dog, Bud, a Poodle mix, was found near his master.
"If she'd had smoke detectors, they'd have probably saved her," Capt. Williamson said as he watched firefighters shovel charred remnants from the house.
"Everything was coordinated real well. We couldn't have done anything better."
A hush fell over the many bystanders when, minutes after Ms. Hall was airlifted, a daughter, Kelly Oney, ran up to the house screaming, "My mom. Where's my mom?"
Tears streaming down her face, she rushed off crying. "Oh God, Oh God. My mommy might die. I've got to go to the hospital. I've got to hurry and get to my mommy."
Neighbor Sandy Johnson said firefighters were fast and efficient, and Mr. Brown made a valiant effort to save Ms. Hall.
As she glanced at the smoke-blackened house next door, a visibly shaken Mrs. Johnson said she was coming in her back door from walking her dog as Mr. Brown was pounding on the front door and yelling out to call 911. She looked at Ms. Hall's house and saw smoke.
After calling 911, Mrs. Johnson said she soaked a sheet with water to protect Mr. Brown as he tried to go in the house.
Mr. Brown said he was preparing to go to work at Guyler Buick in Middletown when he saw smoke seeping into his basement room. He tried the phone. It was dead. He ran out an exterior door but could not get through the locked house door to wake Ms. Hall. He rushed to Mrs. Johnson's.
By the time they got back to the house, "smoke was pouring from every orifice of the house," Mrs. Johnson said.
Longtime neighbors, Chloe Hatfield and Donald Isaac, said Ms. Hall was well-known as a good neighbor and a loving parent and grandparent.
They said her eyesight had gotten so bad recently that she stayeds home most of the time and did not drive anymore.
The fire's cause is still under investigation, but it does not appear to be suspicious, said Fire Chief John Sauter.
Damages are estimated at $15,000 to the building, $5,000 contents, he said.
