Last week, we reported that a house at 159 Oakdale Drive in Zelienople caught fire Thursday evening. The home is now uninhabitable because a large section of the roof and walls are missing, and the contents of the house were destroyed by heat, smoke and water, the Harmony Fire District chief said.

Additionally, the porch of a house on Vogleyville Road in Summit Township caught fire last Tuesday and spread to the home, causing it to be a total loss.

And in Clearfield Township, a family lost a barn to fire. The cause is unknown.

There also were a slew of brush fires across Butler County last week.

And as many fires as we've been to in the past week, local firefighters have been to more — so be sure to thank them. The work they do is crucial to our communities.

We were fortunate to report on fires without injuries. A barn without animals inside. A house where the family got out. A fire where about 30 irreplaceable pieces of military memorabilia — retirement flags, awards, flags flown over the Pentagon and more — were saved.

“Part of our mission is to preserve life and property,” said Scott Garing, Harmony Fire District chief. “Life comes first, property comes second. Our crews are dedicated to retrieving items we see that appear to be very important.”

We are grateful for their efforts in saving those items, but we want to note how fortunate were we to be able to focus on property this week.

A National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report estimates that in the United States, a fire department responds to a fire every 23 seconds. Every 93 seconds, a home structure fire is reported.

The report determined that one home fire-related injury occurs every 47 minutes, and one home fire-related death occurs every three hours and eight minutes. In 2021, 1,353,500 fires resulted in 3,800 civilian deaths and 14,700 injuries.

Take a moment to thank the firefighters in your community. Send them a check or simply a card. Amid a time of staff shortages, these things make a difference.

You also can help by being aware of the weather and checking wildfire danger maps before burning. The right combination of temperature, wind, relative humidity and fuel conditions can contribute to the spread of new or existing wildfires.

On April 14, the state Department of Conservation & Natural Resources posted on Twitter: “Folks, there is a serious wildfire risk in Pennsylvania right now. We’ve been busy with a number of wildfires this week, almost 100 in the past 7 days. Please don’t start any outdoor fires right now!”

If you think it won’t happen to you, think again. No one thinks it will happen to them until it does.

— TL