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Front Page Story
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Written by Larry McGuire
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Saturday, 19 December 2009 |
Firefighters mop up after fighting a deadly blaze Friday morning at an apartment building located at the corner of West Long Avenue and South Jared Street. Two males, who were not identified, perished in the fast-spreading fire in the large yellow bricked apartment building to the right. (Photo by Larry McGuire/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
DUBOIS — Two people were killed as a result of a deadly fire that chased residents from their apartments Friday morning at 5 South Jared St. in DuBois.
DuBois City Police Chief Michael DiLullo reported that the DuBois police and fire departments were called to the scene of the fire at 7:06 a.m. Friday at the apartment complex with people trapped inside.
“When we arrived on-scene, police and firefighters found the building totally engulfed in flames,” DiLullo said. “Several residents were trapped inside the building and were evacuated and assisted out.”
He said about seven residents were transported to DRMC West for treatment of injuries and smoke inhalation.
During a 3 p.m. press conference Friday, DiLullosaid at that point, two male victims had been located in the building and were deceased. He said any further information about the identity of the victims would not be released until notification of their families.
DuBois City Fire Chief Jim Corby said the state police fire marshal had been contacted, and an investigation into the cause continues.
“We’ll be back out Saturday morning and do whatever we have to do to determine how the fire started,” he said. “There was one citizen who was helping to evacuate people from the building. At this point, we have no idea where the fire began or who called in the alarm.”
DuBois Mayor John “Herm” Suplizio said it is important to note all the help the city received from the outlying areas.
“It was a pretty nasty situation when we arrived on the scene,” he said. “Our fire department and all of the surrounding area fire departments did an excellent job. It’s great to have such a good volunteer fire departments, not only in DuBois, but in the surrounding areas.”
Corby reported that only one firefighter was injured with a broken forearm.
DiLullo said that all the tenants in the building have been accounted for, using a list of tenants obtained from the property owner.
“Other than the two victims, everyone has been accounted for,” he said.
DiLullo said Leroy Raybuck is one of the owners of the building.
Corby said when emergency crews arrived on-scene, there was a family with two young children and two adults trapped on the fire escape. They were taken down by a ground ladder.
He said rescuing the residents was the department’s main concern.
DiLullo said there were seven apartments in the actual building where the residents were displaced. There was a common wall with the building next door on the east side, which also contained several apartments, and that building sustained smoke and water damage, he said.
Located in the basement of the building was an area food bank, which had been in that location for many years.
The Rev. Robert Mackey, president of the food bank, said it was difficult to assess if any of the food could be saved.
“Hopefully, we can have the basement pumped out once demolition is underway,” he said. “Luckily, we’ve already completed our Christmas food distribution.”
Suplizio said he thought the building might have been constructed in the 1890s.
DiLullo thanked the many agencies that assisted at the scene, including the DuBois City and Sandy Township Police; DuBois-based Pennsylvania State Police; the Clearfield County Sheriff’s Department; and fire departments from DuBois, Sandy Township, Brockway, Reynoldsville and Sykesville.
Fire departments from Clearfield and Grampian were placed on standby.
Other agencies that assisted included Penelec; National Fuel; DuBois City Street Department and construction code officials; Clearfield County EMA; the Clearfield County Coroner’s office; the Red Cross; and Salvation Army.
DiLullo also thanked local businesses and others who assisted by allowing responding personnel to use their establishments to coordinate on-scene activities and to stay warm throughout the incident.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 21 December 2009 )
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