Blaze destroys Canton Twp. home
Sitting in a back bedroom of her home with a fan and TV running, Tonya Griffith did not realize the mobile home just yards away was ablaze.
If not for her neighbor, Clyde Hartzog, banging on residents’ homes Wednesday morning, people who live on Ward Street said they may have been injured – or worse – by the fire.
The mobile home, owned by Harry Ringer, was unoccupied. Canton Township fire Chief Dave Gump noted a woman who had been living there had moved out recently.
Hartzog was in his garage when his wife, Paula, yelled that she could see smoke coming from the trailer. There “was a big ball of fire” in the center of the home, said Hartzog. Although he believed no one was living there, he still pounded on the door. Then he ran next door and began banging on that door.
“I just knew they had two babies in there, so I was pounding until I got someone to come to the door,” he said of the neighboring home.
Ringer also owns both homes on either side of the mobile home. Alyssa Knox, her husband and two young children rent the mobile home next to the one that caught on fire. Knox said her baby’s crib was in a room closest to the fire. The siding on that wall was burned off, and charred insulation was visible. Gump said there was damage to the electrical wiring of the home, as well.
“We’re just glad no one got hurt,” said Griffith. The home she and her husband rent from Ringer also had some melted siding. But Griffith credited two large trees in the yard with helping to keep the blaze at bay. Crews had been removing the trees but hadn’t finished the job because of a broken wood chipper. As a result, she believes the large tree trunks helped block the fire from her home.
Knox said her family had contacted the American Red Cross for assistance since they cannot stay in the home until it is repaired. A spokeswoman with the Red Cross said they were providing shelter Wednesday night for the family and plan to meet with them today to see what else is needed.
Firefighters from Canton and South Strabane townships and the city of Washington responded to the fire. Gump, a township employee, was mowing grass on Airport Road when the alarm came in, and he responded to the blaze on his tractor.
Gump is asking a state police fire marshal to investigate.