Man, cat rescued from house fire in Stroudsburg
A man and cat were rescued from a house fire that consumed the entire south-facing wall of a Stroudsburg home Friday afternoon. A dog and two cats died in the fire, according to Charlie Frantz, chief of the Stroudsburg Fire Department.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Frantz said the man who was pulled from the two-story home on Bryant Street sustained severe burn injuries and was driven by ambulance to a helicopter landing zone, then flown to a hospital for treatment.
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Julian Burgess, manager of Happy Hour Bar and Grill, a restaurant behind the house, said he saw the flames and helped rescue the man from off of the back porch.
"I heard him screaming," Burgess said. "I had just got back from picking up liquor for the restaurant, turn around, and the house is on fire."
Burgess said the man hit his head on the way out of the house and seemed disoriented. His head was burned, his hair melted, Burgess said. The man kept repeating that there were pets inside the home, but the flames had grown too high to go inside.
"He was just worried that his son was going to be upset," Burgess said. "I said, 'You're alive. Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. We'll figure all that out later.'"
According to the chief, the man lived at the home with his son. The son was not at the home at the time of the fire, Frantz said.
Volunteer firefighters from Stroudsburg, Stroud Township and Pocono Township responded to the scene along with Acme Hose Company, Suburban Ambulance and Stroud Area Regional Police. No responders were injured in the fire, Frantz said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Hannah Phillips is the public safety reporter at Pocono Record. Reach her at hphillips@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Firefighters, neighbor save man and cat from house fire in Stroudsburg
