By Robin Acton
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
 AP Photo/The Courier-Express, Paul A. Wilson Firefighters tackle the house fire. |
BROCKWAY, Pa. — Patti Preston heard the screams.
They awoke her in the middle of the night, from a deep sleep that left her confused. She thought somebody was fighting on her quiet, tree-lined block.
“But then, I looked at my window, and the blind was orange. I went to the side window and opened it and saw that the whole house across the street was in flames,” she said Thursday.
Outside, Elizabeth Peterson screamed to neighbors and firefighters that her children, mother and siblings were inside the burning home at 1120 Pershing Ave. Peterson, 20, and her brother, James, 11, were the sole survivors to escape the early-morning fire that killed nine relatives and a family friend.
Authorities said it is the worst fire in Jefferson County history.
“She kept screaming, ‘I tried to get them out!’ over and over,” Preston said. “There was nothing she could do. I couldn’t believe it went up so quick.”
In the aftermath, grief gripped Brockway, where veteran firefighters fought back tears and sobbing schoolchildren were too upset to attend classes.
“I feel very helpless, very frustrated. There’s a helpless feeling there to try to help when you can’t,” said Chris Benson, chief of the Brockway Volunteer Fire Department.
Benson said he and other firefighters twice tried to save the 10 trapped victims but were beaten away by thick smoke and raging flames in the two-story, wood-frame home.
“I kept thinking that maybe I’d get lucky and be able to kick in a door and pull somebody out, but I don’t think it would have mattered. By the time we got there, anybody inside was probably already gone,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
State police identified the dead as Kimberly Peterson, 40, and her children, Rebecca Peterson, 17, Douglas Peterson III, 13, Isaac Peterson, 8, Grace Peterson, 6, and Lillian Peterson, 11 months; Kaylin Watson, 4 months, who was Rebecca Peterson’s daughter; Desirre Delullo, 2, and Dominic Delullo, 4, who were the children of Elizabeth Peterson; and Jason Mowry, 19, of Brockway, a family friend.
Authorities said Elizabeth and James Peterson were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. No further information on their conditions was available.
Kimberly Peterson’s husband, Douglas Peterson Jr., 44, was working the night shift at a factory in a nearby town, police said.
Police said Elizabeth Peterson apparently jumped from a window and ran to a neighbor’s home for help. James Peterson, who was sleeping on the first floor, told them he woke up his mother and ran to get help.
Police said the bodies were found on both floors of the gutted home, where several burned vehicles and the twisted remains of a bicycle and a red tricycle were parked in the driveway and on a front sidewalk.
County Coroner Bernard Snyder supervised the transfer of their remains to the Carlson Shugarts Funeral Home, which was cordoned off and guarded by police.
Three fire marshals are investigating the fire, according to state police Trooper Bruce Morris. As yet, investigators have not determined the origin or cause of the fire, but they do not suspect it was deliberately set.
Benson said he was unable to determine whether several space heaters found throughout the home played a role in the fire, nor could he tell whether the house had working smoke detectors.
“I didn’t hear anything when I got there because the fire was just raging,” he said.
The fire chief said it was difficult for the all-volunteer fire departments in a town with about 2,200 residents, and another 2,200 in the surrounding township.
“We know the people. We’re personal friends with them,” he said.
Mayor William Hrinia, a former school teacher, called the Petersons a “hardworking family with studious children.”
“When we lose a family, it saddens our hearts,” he said.
Counselors and teachers met with the 570 elementary and 550 junior-senior high school students in the Brockway School District, where the Peterson children and Mowry attended classes, said Superintendent Stephen P. Zarlinski
“No one’s doing too good,” said freshman Nicole Clark, 15, one of many students who left school early. “It’s bad for everybody.”
Copyright 2008 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review