Published Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Herald Staff Writer
Two local families lost their homes to fire Sunday evening as winds, problems with water and temperatures in the teens made conditions difficult for firefighters.
"I didn't want to see it lose," John Hice said of his home at 1175 W. A St. in Masury, which may have caught fire from a malfunctioning wood stove in the garage. Hice's hands, back, face and neck were burned when he ran back into the home looking for his 12-year-old daughter, Ashley, and tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher.
"He didn't know Ashley was out. A neighbor had her," said his wife Karen.
The family's four cats and a dog also were saved.
"It just got too big too fast," Hice said.
Mrs. Hice, who was wide awake before the fire because of an afternoon nap, said she heard cracking and smelled a horrible odor before 10 p.m. The smell turned out to be burning siding.
"I lifted up the blind, looked out the window and it was all orange," she said.
She yelled for her husband, who was in the basement. Her daughter heard her yelling and she and Mrs. Hice grabbed the pets and got them out. When Hice got outside and didn't see his daughter, he went back inside. He was treated at the hospital of Sharon Regional Health System.
Mrs. Hice said it was all of about 2 minutes from the time she saw flames in the garage to the home being totally ablaze, adding that the flames went into the attic.
"The fire department did a good job, but they ran out of water because there are no hydrants on this street, because there's no (municipal) water here," Mrs. Hice said. "If there had been water, though, things might have been saved."
Brookfield firefighters kept the department's sport utility vehicle's full tank of gas from blowing up even though the SUV was lost in the fire. The family and firefighters had no damage estimate Monday, but firefighters said the house and SUV were a total loss.
Assisting Brookfield were firefighters from Sharon, Vienna, Hartford, South Pymatuning Township and Patagonia.
A second blaze an hour earlier in Jefferson Township, which kept seven fire departments busy, caused $300,000 in damage and left that family homeless, said Fire Chief Tom King.
The home, owned by Jim and Kim DeMarco of 287 Highland Road, may have caught fire from a malfunctioning fireplace. The fire was not related to a recently installed outdoor wood burner, King said, adding the cause remained under investigation Monday.
The DeMarcos and their four children -- ages 15, 12 and 6-year-old twins -- got out safely.
Strong winds made fighting the fire difficult, King said.
The DeMarcos left the doors open so their pets could get in and out, and gusts moved the flames hrough the house more quickly, King said.
A frozen fire hydrant nearby forced firefighters to travel farther -- to a Bend Road hydrant -- and caused a 15-minute lapse in water supply while firefighters waited for filled tanker trucks to arrive.
"It wasn't that we were out of water, but we were trying to conserve the water we had until other tankers arrived," King said. "We had the blaze under control at that point."
When the Masury fire broke out, King said, Jefferson "cut loose" Hermitage volunteers to assist Brookfield.
Besides Hermitage, firefighters from Transfer, Fredonia, Mercer East End and Clark assisted.
The DeMarcoses are staying at a local hotel, King said.
Both houses were insured, according to officials, and the American Red Cross has been in touch with both families.
Anyone interested in making donations to the families through the Red Cross may call (724) 981-3205 in Mercer County or (330) 392-2551 in Trumbull County.