The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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August 10, 2008

Sharon man left barefoot, homeless as flames rip through apartment

By Tom Davidson

SHARON — A Sharon man escaped with the shirt on his back but no shoes on his feet after a Sunday afternoon fire burned his girlfriend’s West Hill apartment.

“I don’t know where I’m going to stay, I don’t even have shoes on my feet,” John Knight said as he watched firefighters work to contain the blaze.

He said he was frying shrimp at about 4 p.m. when he left the kitchen for a second and splattering grease caught the stove on fire. It spread so quickly that all he could do was run outside, barefoot, wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

Flames were spilling from the second-floor windows of the duplex at 76 Logan Avenue when firefighters arrived, Chief Terry Whalen said.

The A Street hill was filled with onlookers, who watched as authorities fought the blaze for a couple hours. Smoke clouded the air and shrouded firefighters who took turns breaking through the roof of the house.

First-floor tenant Margaret Rufenacht wasn’t home at the time. Her apartment was damaged by smoke and water, Whalen said, but “there’s heavy damage to the whole second-floor apartment.” It was rented by Virginia Wolfe.

Neither carried renter’s insurance and Whalen said he hadn’t been able to contact Joe Toth, who owns the duplex.

Twelve-year-old Autumn Knight stood close to her father, clutching her cat Whiskers as they watched firefighters smash out windows and use axes and a chainsaw to vent the blaze. The eaves of the house flared up as soon as they were hosed out and pairs of firefighters rotated short shifts on the roof as flames appeared to lick their feet.

Autumn watched it all with a sad look on her face, but said at least Whiskers and two other cats made it out of the house.

She’ll stay with her mom, Knight said.

He didn’t know what he was going to do. He wondered if his wallet was burned in the blaze.

The American Red Cross has been contacted and will help the family, Whalen said.

Firefighters were able to retrieve a few belongings for them, but Whalen said most were burned.

A state police fire marshal will investigate, although Whalen said he didn’t think there was anything suspicious about the blaze.

“It looks like it played out the way he (Knight) said,” Whalen said.

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