Fire destroys Connellsville Township home
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – Bunny Fox sat on the cold ground, tightly holding her small brown dog that was wrapped in a jean jacket, as firefighters struggled Monday to contain the flames that were quickly consuming her McCoy Hollow Road home. “I just want them to find my dogs,” she said as tears streamed down her face.
Fox was unable to detail what might have caused the blaze, but said it was “on fire” when she arrived home at about 1:30 p.m.
Rob Leiberger, Connellsville Township Volunteer Fire Co. assistant chief, said that he could see smoke from Connellsville’s West Side just seconds after receiving the call about the fire.
“It was fully engulfed when I got here,” he said.
Nine fire companies responded to the fire call and immediately began pouring water on the burning structure.
Despite the swirling cold wind and falling snow, the heat from the intense fire could be felt by those standing along the nearby roadway.
Neighbors hurried up the steep grade, navigating around trucks and through the water to lend support to their friend.
“Is she all right?” asked one neighbor. “Did she get out?”
Another carried a box of Kleenex as she rushed to Fox’s side.
Firefighters, meanwhile, stretched several hoses across the front lawn to quell the flames that extended throughout the one-story structure.
As an outside wall fell into the burning building an iron porch railing fell to the ground. Plastic flower planters sitting on the ground succumbed to the intense heat.
When it appeared that the firefighters had the blaze contained, brown, black and white smoke spewed from the site and then another hot spot would erupt into flames.
“This is a bad one,” said an unidentified firefighter. “You hate to see this.”
Leiberger, meanwhile, said that the state police fire marshal would conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
Fox’s three dogs were not recovered from the burning home.
In addition to Connellsville Township, firefighters from New Haven Hose Volunteer Fire Co., Dawson, Morrell, Normalville, Everson, Scottdale, South Connellsville and Bullskin fire companies along with Fayette EMS responded to the scene.