Man and 2 pets killed in overnight North Fayette Township house fire
NORTH FAYETTE, Pa. (KDKA) -- A man and his two pets died after a house fire overnight in North Fayette Township.
The fire broke out at a trailer along Valley View Drive in the Redwood Estates mobile home community around 12:30 a.m. Monday.
"I was scared," said next-door neighbor Patsy Krugle.
Krugle said he went outside to have a cigarette shortly after midnight.
He said when he opened his door along Valley View Drive, he was greeted with heavy smoke and intense flames shooting out of his next-door neighbor's home.
Knowing his neighbor was in there with his two dogs, he immediately called 911.
"I was just a nervous wreck. I got my mom out, moved our car ... everything took place from there," Krugle added.
North Fayette Township volunteer firefighters were on the scene within 10 minutes. They quickly went inside to try to rescue the man who was trapped but said it was too late.
Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Wharton said when crews arrived, the home was fully engulfed with fire blowing out the door and thick smoke pouring into the sky.
He said the man and his pets were trapped in the home and they were dead by the time firefighters reached them.
The home was already fully engulfed and in danger of spreading to the homes on either side. Around 1 a.m., firefighters were ordered out of the home out of fear it was going to collapse.
"The construction of mobile homes are not like your normal houses. They're tough fires to fight. By the time they catch, they go quick," Wharton said.
Neighbors who knew the victim are heartbroken, one neighbor even saying she can't bear to look at what's left of her friend's home.
"I met him because he always walked down the street with his dogs just to get outside. Very nice man, very quiet man. I won't go up there. I stood out along the curb and I looked up and thought, 'God bless you,'" said neighbor Janet Morley.
"He was a good guy," Krugle added. "I feel terrible. I feel horrible. All I can do is pray for him."
The fire marshal is investigating what started the blaze. The man's identity has not been released.