Family loses all in city fire
A Butler couple lost everything in a fire Monday morning.
The fire broke out at a rented house at 120 W. Quarry St. about 8:30 a.m., and neither the occupants nor firefighters were injured.
Fire Chief Nick Ban said the house, valued at $52,000, is destroyed. He said the contents of the house were valued at about $20,000.
DM Vision LLC of Butler is listed as the owner of the property.
“Everything is destroyed,” Ban said.
He said the house will be torn down within two days.
Ban said the fire is not suspicious, but a cause has not been determined.
There were five people living in the 2-story frame house — an adult couple, Rebecca Holmes and Jonathan Delaney, and three young children, 5-year-old Zachary Parker Jr., 3-year-old Dante Parker and 6-month-old Hexa Delaney.
The Red Cross is providing food, clothing and infant supplies to the family.
Delaney said he was asleep on a couch in the lower floor of the house when Holmes woke him saying there was a fire. Holmes was able to get out with the children, while Delaney called 911 and tried to see if anything could be saved. He said he could not get anything out.
“Everything is gone,” Delaney said.
He also attempted to put out the fire, but said his attempts were not successful.
Delaney said they will live with family while deciding what to do next.
It was not clear if the family had rental insurance, but the property is insured.
The house next door at 118 W. Quarry St. suffered about $5,000 in damage due to melted siding. Holmes’ mother, Martha Holmes, lives in this house, and Holmes went there with the children after escaping the fire.
The fire was mostly knocked down by about 8:40 a.m., but it flared up again about 9:10 a.m. when firefighters cut into the roof. Additionally, an electric line connected to the house fell to the ground and sparked at about 8:45 a.m., prompting power to be shut off in the area.
West Penn Power said about 19 customers were without power for about two hours.
In addition to city firefighters, crews from VA Butler Healthcare and Butler Township Fire District 3 responded to the fire. Ban said 15 firefighters fought the blaze.
