An explosion on Patton Avenue totally engulfed a house in flames Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, both occupants were able to make it out of the home.
Clyde Morelli, of Wintersville, said, "I was at my building over near McDonald's, and I just looked out over the hill and seen this explosion that kept going up and up as high as you could go."
Morelli was working over a mile away; when he saw the sky filled with smoke.
Fire Chief Rob Herrington said, "A 77-year-old female and an 85-year-old male were home. The female was on home oxygen, and evidently there was a fire in her bedroom where the oxygen cylinders are stored... The cylinders blew all of the windows out of the back of the house, and there was heavy fire in the back of the house."
Glenn Horne lives just a few houses away. When he saw the smoke, he said he feared for his friend.
"This lady that lives down there she is 95 and a half, and I kind of watch over her and make sure she's alright. So, I got my clothes on and ran down there right away," Horne said.
To Horne's relief, it was a different house, but Herrington was relieved for a different reason.
"The people were really lucky to be able to get out, you know. Maybe a couple more seconds if she couldn't have gotten out of the bedroom obviously it would've been a worse outcome than it was," Herrington added.
Now, that everyone is safe. Residents in Wintersville are just thankful for the quick action of their fire department.
"We can be lucky around this area with the fire department we have... I don't think much of it's left, but they did a heck of a job putting it out," Horne said.
Both of the people in the home were transported to Trinity Medical Center West. The man for chest pain, and the woman for flash burns to her head and neck. But both people are expected to be OK.
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