By Edward Colimore and Peter Mucha
The Philadelphia Inquirer
JOBSTOWN, Pa. — Fourteen-year-old Bobby Ferrell had already escaped his burning home in Jobstown, Burlington County, authorities said.
But standing outside with his brother and sister early yesterday, he realized that their mother was inside, apparently trapped on the second floor.
The athletic ninth grader raced back into the smoke and flames to save her.
Neither he nor his mother, Michelle Ferrell, Burlington County’s supervisor of elections, escaped the four-alarm fire, which gutted their house in rural Springfield Township near Fort Dix.
Ferrell, 53, and her children were home shortly after 4:30 a.m. when the fire broke out, possibly in a clothes dryer.
Ferrell’s oldest, Emily McManus, 23, smelled smoke and fled with Bobby and James Ferrell, 15, who jumped from a window.
The bodies of Ferrell and her younger son, a popular junior-varsity football player at Northern Burlington County Regional High School in Mansfield, were found on the second floor of the two-story wood-frame house in the 2400 block of Monmouth Road (Route 537).
The survivors were taken to Virtua Memorial Hospital Burlington County in Mount Holly, where they were treated for smoke inhalation, said Sgt. Stephen Jones of the state police, who were trying to determine the official cause of the fire.
News of Bobby Ferrell’s heroic effort spread quickly through his school yesterday.
“That speaks of his character,” said James Sarruda, superintendent of the Northern Burlington County Regional School District. “He was bold beyond his years.”
He said Ferrell, who also wrestled in the local parks-and-recreation program, had “a lot of people who cared about him” at the school, where his brother, a sophomore, plays varsity football.
Bobby Ferrell was a “respectful” kid, Sarruda said — “a good athlete and a good student.”
Crisis counselors were at the school yesterday and will return today, he said.
The fire was reported at 4:38 a.m. and moved swiftly through the late-19th-century house, said Chief Brian Kokotajlo of the Springfield Fire Company in Jobstown.
“The age of the home and type of construction didn’t help with fighting this fire,” he said outside the gutted structure yesterday afternoon as firefighters looked for “hot spots.”
“We had to use water shuttles” because fire hydrants were not available, Kokotajlo said.
Neighbors awakened by the fire engines said the blaze had been concentrated in the rear of the house, with heavy smoke pouring from the front. They said they had seen Ferrell’s children standing outside as rescuers tried to reach the victims.
The fire rapidly spread to the second floor, forcing firefighters to retreat temporarily, Jones said. Michelle and Bobby Ferrell were declared dead at the scene, police said.
About 150 firefighters and emergency personnel from 15 fire companies — including more than 50 pieces of equipment from Fort Dix, Florence and Jacksonville — responded to the four-alarm blaze. The fire was declared under control shortly after 7:10 a.m., Kokotajlo said.
Late yesterday, the scene, with its small group of houses near a post office and church, was still busy with fire engines and emergency equipment.
A green St. Patrick’s Day flag flapped at the front of the house.
The people of Springfield are especially close, Sarruda said. “The family is devastated, and so is the community,” he said.
Students, teachers and former coaches have all come forward, Sarruda said. “Everybody in the community is trying to come together and help in any way they can.”