Seven Fields home destroyed in Friday morning fire
SEVEN FIELDS — About an hour after returning home from delivering the Butler Eagle at 5:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8, Vern Davis said he saw some smoke and heard a noise in the garage of the home where he lived with his wife and father-in-law.
He soon saw a lot of smoke, felt significant heat and then yelled for everyone to evacuate the house on Graywyck Drive. Everyone escaped without injury.
A neighbor who lives across the street was working at home at 6:30 a.m. when he said he heard a noise that he thought was a garbage truck until he looked outside.
“The entire garage was up in flames,” said the neighbor, who declined to provide his name but added that he called 911.
The alarm went out to seven fire departments, whose trucks packed the street lined by homes built in 2000, according to the neighbor.
Firefighters arrived quickly to find the house “well involved” in flames, said Talo Capuzzi, assistant chief at the Adams Area Fire District.
Lighter weight materials used in modern construction like the house on Graywyck Drive are highly flammable, he said.
“With new construction, fire doubles in size every 60 to 90 seconds,” Capuzzi said. “Unfortunately, fires grow rapidly in new-age construction.”
While Davis’ house is likely a total loss, both next-door homes had only minor heat damage because of the firefighters’ quick response, he said.
That effort also saved some of the family’s sentimental belongings.
“We were able to save his dad’s ashes. They can’t be replaced,” Capuzzi said.
Davis said it was amazing that the ashes were probably the only item in the garage that wasn’t destroyed.
Two cars in the garage, including a Volkswagen Jetta that Davis said he bought with money he earned from working two jobs, were destroyed. One of the two other cars that were parked in the driveway appeared to be damaged.
He said the home is insured. American Red Cross arrived to assist the family.
A state police fire marshal was at the scene Friday to try to determine the cause of the fire.
The other fire companies that responded were the Cranberry Township Volunteer Company, Harmony Fire District, Callery Volunteer Fire Department, the Butler Bureau of Fire, Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Department and Wexford Volunteer Fire Company.
