The fire chief says one resident burned his feet and four others were OK when a house caught on fire this morning.
Tonight, they’re crediting one of their dogs with saving their lives.
We have more on how a familiar face may have helped one of the residents cope.
The resident says a barking dog woke her daughter up and they were all able to get out of the house.
“He went down to check and when he stepped down on the basement steps the floor. The steps were hot enough that it burned his feet,” says Horton Township Fire Chief Chad Guaglianone.
The fire chief says fire broke out around 3:30 a.m., and getting to the the source of the fire in that basement was impossible.
“It was a lot of dry wood. It burned very quickly. There was a lack of, water is tough to come by in this area, so it was an extensive tanker shuttle from numerous mutual aid departments,” says Guaglianone.
Guaglianone says 7 tankers brought water from a hydrant more than a mile down Mountain Church Road, but it was no use, since the home of Tom and Leah Crosley was already fully engulfed.
“It was strictly a defensive operation for the safety of our crew,” says Guaglianone.
One firefighter says she recognized Leah as a co-worker from 30 years ago.
“She’s a sweetheart. We had a lot of good times together. We worked side-by-side together a lot and everybody pretty much there was kind of like the fire department, you were a family at that store,” says firefighter Karen Guaglianone.
The chief says two adult daughters, and a daughter’s husband were not hurt. Witnesses tried to comfort the family.
“I had a fire myself years ago and lost everything, so I could kind of relate to where she was at,” says Karen Guaglianone.
One dog and two cats were lost in the fire, resident Leah Crosley said. A GoFundMe page online quickly raised more than $1,000 to help the family as they figure out what’s next.
“We’ve had some calls you know that people don’t get out, unfortunately,” says Karen Guaglianone.
Firefighters remained on the scene for several hours, worried about the wind and hot spots. The man was treated and released with first-degree burns, Chief Chad Guaglianone said. A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause.
