A woman jumped from a second-floor window and, with a neighbor's help, pulled her brother from their burning stone home in Lurgan Township before dawn Saturday — minutes before flames consumed much of the house, fire officials said.
Pre-dawn fire on Lurgan Road
Franklin County 911 dispatched the Pleasant Hall Volunteer Fire Company and mutual-aid units to the 15000 block of Lurgan Road near Cumberland Highway at about 5:41 a.m. Nov. 14 for a reported house fire, according to Tri-State Alert.
By the time the first fire officer arrived, heavy fire was showing from both the first and second floors of the two-story stone house, Pleasant Hall Fire Chief Thomas Rine said. Rine took command and ordered exterior-only operations, with crews attacking the blaze from outside rather than entering the structure.
A leap from the second floor — and a rescue
The rescue that mattered most happened before the first engine arrived. According to Rine, a woman inside the house jumped from a second-floor window to escape. With help from a neighbor, she then got her brother — who is handicapped — out of the first floor of the home.
Both siblings, in their 30s, got out safely, and no injuries were reported, Rine told WGAL. Their mother was out of town at the time of the fire. The American Red Cross is assisting three people displaced by the blaze.
Front porch collapse and a tense radio check
The fire tested the crews who responded. Firefighters entered the home briefly early in the operation, but the front porch collapsed, Rine said. For a tense stretch, one firefighter was believed to be unaccounted for — until a radio check confirmed everyone was safe, and command pulled all crews out of the building.
Water supply proved another challenge at the rural intersection, and tankers from neighboring companies were part of the assignment. West End Fire & Rescue Company of Shippensburg worked a master stream from a tower platform above the roofline, while Vigilant Hose Company 52 of Shippensburg stretched handlines to the rear of the house and helped with overhaul.
The fire was under control around 7:30 a.m., and crews cleared the scene about 11 a.m. The intersection of Cumberland Highway and Lurgan Road was closed while firefighters worked.
Cause under investigation
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials said. Fire company photos show flames pouring from second-floor windows and through the roof while the home's thick stone walls stood, with a wood-frame porch reduced to charred framing.
The fire was not the first serious one Pleasant Hall has fought in Lurgan Township this year. In February, a fire on Roxbury Road destroyed a home where a propane heater had been placed too close to combustibles — a house that had no working smoke detectors. Fire officials remind residents to test smoke alarms and keep space heaters at least three feet from anything that can burn.
