Occupant in hospital when home destroyed
BRADY TWP — A man was in the hospital Tuesday morning when he lost his mobile home and all of its contents in a fire, authorities said.
No one was injured in the blaze on Turk Road in Brady Township around 8 a.m., but the fate of five or six pet cats was unknown.
Trooper DuWayne Baird, a deputy fire marshal, later inspected what was left of the 40-year-old trailer and ruled the fire accidental and electrical in nature.
He said he found evidence of an electrical arc in the power cord of a lamp in the living room, located in the middle of the trailer, where it appeared the fire started.
“That was the ignition source,” Baird said, “and it caught available combustibles on fire.”
The trailer, he noted, contained a large amount of combustible material.
Damage to the home, located about one mile east of Route 8, and its contents was estimated at $5,000. Neither the owner, George Wilker, nor the occupant, Leroy Claypool, had insurance.
A passing motorist apparently was first to see the fire and notified 911. The motorist also stopped and banged on the door to alert anyone inside, said Lt. Andy Hoehn of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department.
But Claypool, who lived alone, was not there. Friends said he has been at an unspecified hospital for about a week for an undisclosed medical condition.Before he left, he locked the door. Fire crews had to force open the door after they got there.“Flames were coming through the roof of the trailer,” Hoehn said, “and heavy smoke was showing.”Crews made their way in through a door and conducted a search for any victims. Hoehn said firefighters had the blaze out in several minutes.Mary Kennedy, Wilker's cousin, who co-owns a farm with him where the mobile home sat, said Claypool had been living there for a number of years.“He works as a handyman to pay the rent,” she said.She said he has several cats and a dog. The dog was left with a caretaker before he went to the hospital. The cats were not immediately accounted for after the fire.Claypool also keeps chickens, ducks and a turkey on the property.Assisting the Unionville VFD were firefighters from Slippery Rock, Prospect and West Sunbury.
