BUTLER TWP — A fire that started in the garage quickly spread and destroyed a modular-style home in the township’s Highfield section early this morning. No one was hurt in the blaze that broke out about 4:10 a.m. at 210 Shady Ave., authorities said. Ben and David Fair, father and son, lived at the home. Both were sleeping when the fire struck. “They smelled smoke and got out,” according to a Butler Township police report. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, and the state police fire marshal’s office was called to investigate. “I heard an explosion and it woke me up,” said Stephanie Davey, who lives with her husband, William, across the street at 209 Shady Ave. “It sounded like a gunshot.” The noise, fire officials guessed, could have been the tires blowing on a 1960s model Chevy pickup truck that was in the garage. Davey got to a window and looked toward the Fair house, covered with white vinyl siding and blue shutters. “The entire garage was on fire, and it was spreading fast,” she said. Across the street in back of the house on fire, Sandy Yost’s barking dog had roused her from a peaceful sleep at her home in the 200 block of North Boundary Street. “At first I saw flashing red lights from the window,” she said. “I looked out and saw nothing but flames everywhere, and firefighters fighting it.” Firefighters from all of Butler Township’s departments battled the fire, which took over an hour to put out.
