SCOTTOWN – Windsor Township firefighter Joe Hedrick pulled two children to safety Tuesday when fire erupted at his neighbor’s home.

Thursday, February 24, 2000

SCOTTOWN – Windsor Township firefighter Joe Hedrick pulled two children to safety Tuesday when fire erupted at his neighbor’s home.

"The mother got out with her smaller children but she couldn’t get back in for the 4- and 5-year-old boys," Windsor Township Volunteer Fire Department chief Don Christian said.

The boys were trapped in a back bedroom where the fire started, Christian said.

Luckily, Hedrick lived nearby, so he came over, broke out the bedroom window and pulled them to safety, he said.

No one was injured but the family lost everything in the blaze that started at about 10 a.m. at the home of Permelia White, 11262 Ohio 217, Scottown, according to fire reports.

Windsor volunteers responded but the structure, a 12-foot by 54-foot trailer, was a total loss, Christian said.

Rome and Proctorville volunteer firefighters hauled water for Windsor crews.

"An armload of clothes is about all they saved from the fire," Christian said.

Because the family lost their home, the American Red Cross also responded, county coordinator Annabelle Jenkins said.

The mother and her four children – ages 5, 4, 2 and 1 – lost everything inside the house, too, Mrs. Jenkins said.

"And today was the 1 year old’s birthday," she said Wednesday.

The Red Cross has given the family clothes, shoes, diapers and groceries. When the family finds a place to live, the organization will try to help them with some housing needs like beds and linens, Mrs. Jenkins said.

"The family may still need some items that Red Cross probably can’t provide," she said.

The Red Cross will continue to work with the family, but donations of dishes, pots and pans, lamps, end tables, sofas, chairs and other furniture is encouraged, Mrs. Jenkins said.

Those wishing to donate may contact the family by calling a pager number, 304-690-8913. Enter a telephone number where the family may call back, she said.

The cause of the blaze is unknown, according to fire reports.