May 18, 2003 By Steve Ferris 3 min read

Though firefighters and emergency medical personnel responded quickly and en masse to the Thursday evening fire in Poplar Lane Court senior citizen high-rise in South Union Township, the 51 senior citizens who live there relied on each other during the frightening ordeal, according to one resident. “The residents here, how they helped each other, they did great,” said 76-year-old resident Clara Delaney.

“When something like this happens, you find out how good they are.”

She said there were some tense moments when the building fire alarm sounded at 7:22 p.m., but the seniors had practiced for such an event and began helping each other out of the six-floor building even before the five fire departments and medical personnel from three ambulance companies arrived.

The 8-year-old, 49-unit building is managed by Presbyterian Senior Care Network, which also manages The Heritage – an apartment building in Uniontown for seniors that caught fire in February.

Four former Heritage residents now live in Poplar Lane, Delaney said.

Poplar Lane building managers have been conducting fire drills ever since the fire at the Heritage. When the real thing occurred Thursday, Poplar Lane residents were evacuated outside where firefighters and building officials counted them and took their names to make sure nobody was trapped inside.

Delaney was in her fourth floor apartment when the alarm activated. She went upstairs and helped an 87-year-old friend down the stairs to safety. “We’re all like a big family here. Everybody helped each other out,” she said.

There were two other women – both in their 90s – were helped from the fifth floor by firefighters, she said.

The woman who lives in the second-floor apartment where the fire started was outside when she hear the fire alarm in her room, Delaney said. After the resident looked up and saw smoke coming from her window, she went up to the apartment and opened the door. That allowed smoke to enter the hallway and activated the building-wide alarm, she said.

Four residents were treated at Uniontown Hospital. South Union Township Fire Department Assistant Chief Kevin Conchilla said firefighters extinguished a burning recliner in the apartment and removed it from the building before enough heat accumulated to activate the sprinkler system.

He said the fireproof walls in the apartment were slightly singed and there was also some smoke damage.

Conchilla said neither the residents’ injuries nor the damage to the building were serious.

He said he believes the state police fire marshals will investigate to determine the cause of the fire. The fire marshals could not be reached Friday.

Residents returned to the first floor community room around 8:30 p.m., Delaney said. Those living on floors three through six were allowed back in their apartments shortly after 9 p.m. Second-floor residents were last, due to the smell of smoke, she said.

Room 206, where the fire started remained sealed off Friday. The resident who lived there was staying with family members.

“It’s scary when you think how bad it could have been,” Delaney said. “But no matter how bad things seen, we always find a blessing.”