NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. — A 35-year-old man was killed in a fire Thursday morning while trying to rescue his family’s dog from their Beaver County home.
The blaze was reported at a home on Eighth Avenue in New Brighton about 3:30 a.m.
New Brighton fire chief Jeff Bolland said Shawn Molter and his fiancée, Brittney Wilhelm, were sleeping when they smelled smoke.
According to Bolland, Molter told Wilhelm to take their 4-year-old daughter and get out of the house. Molter then went to save the family’s dog, but never made it out of the house.
Bolland said Molter and the dog were found on the second floor of the home.
“We came on scene and were trying to figure out how to get to somebody, but flames were blowing out of the window and the roof was collapsing. It was devastating,” Bolland said.
A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, called 911 after seeing Wilhelm running for help with her daughter, both black from the smoke.
Wilhelm and their daughter were taken to an area hospital with burn injuries.
“He was a good father and had a good fiancée,” Molter’s friend Jeff Pearce said. “He took care of everybody and took care of his family. He’ll be missed greatly.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but authorities said it started in the living room on the first floor and it was not caused by lightning.