Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)
MARION, Pa. — A Marion Volunteer Fire Company firefighter helped a father rescue his 2-year-old child from a burning house Saturday.
Four people at the 4:43 p.m. fire in Shady Grove were treated at Chambersburg and Waynesboro hospitals. A child remains hospitalized.
Fire Marshal Trooper Michael Rugh of the Pennsylvania State Police, Carlisle, said one victim was flown to the Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown as a precaution but did not name the victim.
John “Chris” Henson, a 19-year veteran of the Marion Fire Company, was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation and released two hours later, according to Marion Fire Chief Jerry Houpt.
Henson and the child’s father arrived at the Preston Shaw residence at 2027 Buchanan Trail East around the same time, Houpt said. The house was full of smoke. Without protective gear, they went upstairs to the second floor.
The father kicked in the door to a bedroom and took the child from a crib. He handed the child to Henson, who was waiting two steps from the top landing. Henson took the child outside to a Waynesboro ambulance.
The father told Houpt on Monday that the outcome for the child was “looking pretty good,” Houpt said. The child’s mother and a second child were also treated and released later Saturday.
Rugh said quick action by firefighters contained the fire to a bedroom. He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation and foul play is not suspected.
Henson responded to the alarm directly from his home in Greencastle, and arrived shortly after Greencastle Borough Police, Houpt said. Houpt said he did not have the name of the family.
More details were not immediately available from Greencastle Rescue Hose Company, the first responding fire company.
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