John "Babe" Pollock was talkative after being pulled from his burning house, even though he was badly burned over much of his body.

"Babe kept saying, 'What the hell happened?' '' said neighbor Randy Kriebel, who helped rescue him.

What happened was a fire and explosion in Pollock's house at 18 Old Bedford Road, West Middlesex, claiming the life of his son, Mark, 46, and leaving himself and his wife, Shirley, both 74, critically injured.

Mark Pollock, a Shenango Township firefighter and former West Middlesex firefighter, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Mercer County Coroner J. Bradley McGonigle III said. Pollock was dead on arrival at UPMC Horizon, Farrell, at 2:30 a.m. Friday, McGonigle said. He ruled the death accidental.

Kriebel had just seen off his son, who was heading to Johnstown, Pa., to attend a funeral, when he heard a sound like a car door shutting.

"I looked out to see if it was him and I saw flames coming out of the roof of the house and an explosion," Kriebel said.

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