FORWARD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two people died in a house fire in Forward Township on Monday, according to state police.
“It’s painful,” a neighbor told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek of the death of his neighbors on Old Route 68 in Forward Township, Butler County.
Those neighbors were his friend’s parents. He didn’t want to be on camera.
“It’s an incredible blow to our friends,” he said. ”We’re very close. Obviously, family is everything around here. It’s a very close-knit community as well.”
A woman inside the home called 911.
“Female reporting that her couch is on fire in the living room,” a dispatcher said to firefighters as crews responded to the scene.
Moments later, dispatchers told firefighters who were on their way to the house that the woman was no longer on the call.
“Elderly female caller set the phone down, and we can now hear crackling in the background, and she’s not coming back to the phone,” the dispatcher said. ”Not sure if she has exited the structure.”
Firefighters found the home in flames just after 5:30 p.m. About a half an hour later, firefighters told dispatchers they found one person outside the home, but another was still inside.
State police have not yet identified the victims. Their neighbor says his friend’s dog also died in the fire. He said by the time he found out about the fire, it was too late.
“Unfortunately, by the time I even heard sirens, it was too late. It was well an hour into responders being there,” he said. ”I didn’t make it down there in time. I was able to go down just to witness with friends and family, but it was too far gone at that point.”
The cause of the fire is still not known.
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