Newell escapes house fire

Kari Newell, the former Marion restaurant owner who figured in the Aug. 13, 2023, raid on the Record newsroom, escaped a wind-whipped fire Friday night that destroyed her rental home in Newton.

A witness told the Newton Kansan that he noticed “a little fire on the front porch” around 1:30 a.m. and that it quickly engulfed the entire front of Newell’s two-bedroom bungalow in the 300 block of E. 10th St.

Four people in the house escaped with only their pets and the clothes on their backs.

Friends and co-workers have established two GoFundMe pages for Newell and her family:

• https://www.gofundme.com/f/fire-took-everything-aid-karis-family
• https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-hope-support-family-after-fire-loss