The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

February 8, 2010

UPDATE: Family driven from home, firefighter hurt

Firefighters kept busy by Sunday morning fires

By Patrick Cooley

SHARON — A family was left homeless and a firefighter was injured Sunday morning by a house fire in Sharon.

The exact cause of the fire at 127 Second Ave. wasn’t clear, but firefighters said it started near a wood stove in the living room of the two-story house and spread to two upstairs bedrooms and the attic.

The family living at the home, husband and wife Joshua and Tiffany Stearns and their four children, aged 3 to 13 years old, will have to find a new place to live, Brian Scarmack, a captain with the Sharon Fire Department, said.

“The house isn’t livable,” he said.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 8:34 a.m. and spent about 2è hours fighting the blaze, a Mercer County 911 dispatcher said.

Sharon Firefighter Shawn Donato was injured after a piece of debris fell on his head, and he was taken to the hospital of the Sharon Regional Health System with moderate injuries, firefighters said.

The Red Cross is assisting the family and the home was insured, Scarmack said.

Firefighters in Sharon couldn’t say for sure what, if any role, the wood burning stove played in the fire.

That wasn’t the case in Greenville, where a mattress was left too close to a space heater in a bedroom at 44 North High St. and caught fire about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, firefighters said.

A Mercer County 911 dispatcher said they were called initially because someone saw smoke coming out of the house and when firefighters arrived they found the inside of the house was on fire.

The fire was contained to the bedroom, destroying only a mattress and a table, according to a news release from the Greenville Fire Department.

The family living there — Larry Elder, Kathrn Hoffman and their 1-year-old son — will be able to move back into the house as soon as the damage is repaired and the utilities are turned back on, according to the release.

The house did not have a working smoke detector, firefighters said.

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