Pa. Firefighter Hurt in Blaze That Destroyed Home

A Connellsville Township firefighter was injured during a fire that destroyed a home at 509 Quail Hill Road in Bullskin Wednesday morning.

Assistant Chief Rob Leiberger Jr. was flown to Allegheny General Hospital from the scene, said Rick Adobato, director of operations with Fayette Emergency Management Services.

Firefighters said Leiberger cut his arm while battling the 8:51 a.m. blaze.

"I just know he came out and he was bleeding pretty bad," said First Captain Dusty Rhodes of the Bullskin Township Volunteer Fire Company.

Leiberger's condition was not immediately available.

Mike Shaffer and his father, Franny Shaffer, stood outside the badly charred home.

"This is my grandparents' house. It's a little more than a house," Mike Shaffer said.

"I grew up in that house," Franny Shaffer said.

Mike Shaffer bought the home in November 2005. He lived there with his wife, Jayme Shaffer, and their 5-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.

Gazing at the hole in the roof of his home, Shaffer said the two hottest spots seemed to be his son's upstairs bedroom and playroom and his daughter's first-floor bedroom.

He said he hoped he might be able to salvage something from inside the house.

"It's hard to tell. I've seen a lot of water sprayed in there," he said.

Shaffer was unsure whether the family would rebuild.

"I don't even know what to do. I can't process this yet," he said.

Rhodes said the fire remains is being investigated by a state police fire marshal.

The American Red Cross was contacted on the family's behalf. An agency spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment.

Copyright 2012 - Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service