Burning trash goes out of control
WASHINGTON TWP — Careless burning was the cause of a fire Sunday afternoon that badly damaged a rental home on Fairview Road, authorities said.
The tenants, a man and woman, were home and able to get out safely after flames about 3:30 p.m. caught hold of the back porch and eventually spread into the one-story, brick house.
The woman was later taken by ambulance to Butler Memorial Hospital for an unknown reason, possibly the effects of smoke inhalation, fire crews said.
The tenants were burning garbage “right next to (the house)” when the fire ignited the home's porch, said Bruce Confer, chief of the North Washington Volunteer Fire Department.
The tenants' names were not immediately available. The home is owned by Randy Smith, a longtime Washington Township supervisor, and one of his brothers. The brothers also co-own the sprawling Smith's Farms nearby.
“(One of the renters) told me they were burning household goods,” Smith said, “and it got away from him.”
At the time, Smith was celebrating his birthday with family at a Cranberry Township restaurant. He turned 55 Thursday.
He was getting ready to leave when his cell phone started lighting up with calls from neighbors and one of the tenants, informing him that his house was on fire.
“I just drove straight here,” he said. “It was pretty much over by the time I got here.”
Smith lives up the road just a half-mile or so away. Across the road are fields of corn and soy beans owned by Smith's Farms.
Next-door neighbor Sherri Adamson had walked up from the basement of her house and went outside.
“I saw the back porch in flames,” she said. She also saw the renters moving vehicles out of the way of the fire.
“I asked them if everyone was out,” she said, “and they said, 'Yeah.'”
The couple also managed to get two pet dogs out of harm's way.
“When we got there,” Confer said, “the whole back of the house/porch area was fully involved.”
Crews with a hose line immediately hit the rear of the house. Soon after, an attack crew went into the home.
“They got inside,” Confer said, “and they pushed it back.”
The fire, however, made its way into the kitchen, which is in the back, and then spread into the living room.
Dozens of firefighters from nine departments had the fire out in about an hour, crews said.
A damage estimate was not immediately available. Smith said he and his brother had insurance; the tenants, however, apparently did not have renter's insurance.
The Smith brothers have owned the house for about 25 years. The woman tenant has lived there the whole time, Smith said. The other tenant, believed to be her boyfriend or husband, has lived there about 10 years.
While battling the blaze, heat-weary firefighters were able to get relief courtesy of the Bruin Volunteer Fire Department rehabilitation truck, which provided cool water and overhead vents blasting cold air.
“It was terrible,” Confer said, ”between the fire and the humidity. It was extremely warm. That's why we had so many people here.”
Assisting the North Washington and Bruin VFDs were firefighters from Petrolia, Chicora, Eau Claire, West Sunbury, Oneida Valley and Unionville in Butler County. and Emlenton in Venango County.
