News

A kitten is being hailed as a hero for saving the lives of a Fayette County family who lost their home in a fire that broke out early Tuesday morning.

William and Melissa Clark and their son, Jonathan Lowry, 14, were sleeping in their home at 386 Hardy Hill Road, Dunbar Township, when the family's 5-month-old kitten, Jeffrey, began fussing about 1 a.m. yesterday.

"The cat usually sleeps with us so when he started acting up, it woke me up," said William Clark. "I got up and smelled smoke, but you couldn't see nothing. It was pure black."

Clark said he yelled for his wife and son, and the family dashed down the steps to safety, barely escaping the flames by diving through a first-floor window.

"It was gone in no time. It was popping the windows, and flames were rolling everywhere," Clark said, tears welling up in his eyes.

All that remained late yesterday morning in the smoldering ruins of the nearly 100-year-old, two-story frame home were some melted Christmas decorations on the porch and in the yard. The family escaped with just the clothes they were wearing.

The Clarks' twin 12-year-old sons had spent the night at their grandmother's home.

"As fast as that house went up, who knows what could have happened if they had been here," said Homer Richter, William Clark's stepfather, who lives just down the road.

Richter said he was awakened by the fire engine sirens but didn't know his stepson's house was on fire until he walked up the road and around the corner. Then, despite a heart condition, he picked up his pace.

"There were flames everywhere," Richter said. "But the worst part was I couldn't find them for about 20 minutes. Nobody knew where they were. I finally found them in their truck. ... I cried like a baby when I knew they were OK."

Richter said the fire brought back memories of when his mother barely escaped a fatal fire at a Connellsville personal-care home in the 1970s.

"It's not something you want to think about much," Richter said.

While the Clarks made it out of the home safely -- along with Jeffrey, the kitten -- another family cat perished in the blaze.

Dunbar Township fire Chief Mark Trenker said 40 firefighters from five companies were on the scene for about two hours.

"We couldn't do much," Trenker said. "Part of the building was on the ground when we got there."

Trenker said the cause of the blaze has not been determined, but it does not appear to be suspicious. The state police fire marshal is expected to be at the scene today.

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News