Quick-thinking dad saves family from fire
DUNBAR TWP. – A pet cat and a father’s quick thinking may have saved the lives of three family members Tuesday after an early morning fire tore through their Hardy Hill Road home. Bill and Melissa Clark and their 14-year-old son escaped the flames and smoke that destroyed their 94-year-old two-story frame house and left them homeless.
Dunbar Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Mark Trenker said if it weren’t for the quick decision of Bill Clark, the three would have perished in the flames. As a result, no one was injured.
“Bill put his stepson out a first-floor window, and shortly after he and Melissa climbed out the window, the house was engulfed in flames,” said Trenker, adding that the fire is not suspicious in nature. “When we got there, the back of the house was burned off, the roof was sagging down onto the second floor and the roof collapsed shortly thereafter.”
Neighbors Jerry and Doreen Landman said Bill Clark was awakened by his cat when it jumped on his chest.
“Bill said the cat woke him up, and when it did, he smelled smoke,” said Jerry Landman. “He told us that they got down the stairway and couldn’t go any further because of the smoke, so they went out a first-floor window.”
Landman said Bill Clark no sooner climbed out the window when he heard a “whoosh” and the house went up in flames.
“I think it went up so fast because the lumber was dry because the house was so old,” said Landman. “They were real lucky to have gotten out of the house when they did, because just as Bill came out the window, it went.”
Doreen Landman said the Clarks had lived in the house only for about three years, and that they apparently were having problems with their electrical outlets, which Trenker confirmed.
“I know that the electric was flickering this summer off and on, and Melissa said that they were going to have to get the house rewired,” said Doreen Landman.
Trenker said the couple also told him that sometimes when they would plug in a toaster and another appliance at the same time, it would trip the breaker.
The house was still smoldering late Tuesday afternoon while the only remnants of the home were some basement cinderblocks and a few Christmas lights that glistened in the late afternoon sun.
Trenker said first reports that there may have been someone still in the house were false.
“The Clarks also have 12-year-old twin boys who stayed at their grandparents’ house Monday night,” said Trenker. “I think that some people thought that the twins were in the house, too, but they weren’t.”
Trenker said if the twins had been in the house, they never would have been able to get them out.
“The fire started on the back side of the house where the boys’ bedroom was,” said Trenker.
“Had they been in their beds, I don’t think that their father could have gotten them out,” he said.
Trenker said firefighters from Dunbar, Monarch, Morrell, North Union Township and Connellsville Township battled the blaze for about three hours before they finally agreed to let it burn.
“This fire was probably one of the worst that we have had in five or six years,” said Trenker. “It was just an awful lot of fire real fast. It had a real good head start on us. We never did get it under control. It collapsed in, so we just let it go because once it got into the foundation there wasn’t much we could do but simply water it down.”
Tinker said although the fire is not suspicious, the state police fire marshal will examine what’s left of the house today.
The Landmans took the Clarks in and gave them shoes and coats because they only had the nightclothes on their backs.
Doreen Landman said she felt bad because one of the Clarks’ cats perished in the fire.
“Melissa really loved that cat, and she and Bill sat in their truck all night watching the firefighters,” said Landman.
Fayette EMS was on standby at the scene.