OH Firefighter Still Hospitalized After Burn

RAYLAND - A Smithfield firefighter is in serious condition today in West Penn Hospital Burn Center in Pittsburgh after he was injured in a Friday-night fire that left a family homeless.

Firefighter Robert Staten was burned when fuel oil tanks in the home of the Vincent Tweede family, 821 Wells Township Road 159, exploded. Three other firefighters were treated locally for minor injuries.

The home was near the end of a one-lane road and the nearest house, which belongs to Vincent Tweede's parents, is about 300 yards away. Malcolm Fellows, assistant chief of the Brilliant Fire Department, said the parents were home at the time of the fire, but their house is an A-frame and had no windows on the side the fire occurred.

No one from the Tweede family, Vincent, his wife Tonya, their two daughters and two girls staying with the family, were home at the time of the fire, Fellows said.

Fellows said the fire apparently was not spotted until it had burned for quite some time. He said the fire call was made by a person who lived more than a mile away who investigated after seeing flames.

Fellows said two walls of the two-story frame home had collapsed prior to the arrival of the first fire units at 7:21 p.m. Friday. Fellows said the Tweede home was destroyed with an undetermined cause to the fire.

"There was just nothing left to pinpoint the cause," said Fellows. "The only thing left are the four block walls of the basement and a pile of ashes."

Tonya Tweede said the basement of the house was eight-years-old and the upper level was four-years-old. Fellows said the house's wiring was good, and was not considered a cause for the fire.

Two investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office responded to the scene from Akron and Marietta, Fellows said. The investigators arrived around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and worked for several hours, then returned to the scene to work through the day Saturday.

Firefighters and emergency medical units from Brilliant, Smithfield, New Alexandria, Dillonvale and Mingo Junction responded to the call. Firefighters remained on the scene until after 2 a.m. Saturday.

Tonya said the family is staying with her mother- and father-in-law. The family is also in contact with the Red Cross.

"I just want to thank the family and friends that have been so wonderful," said Tonya Tweede.