Folcroft woman dies after fire at her home
flooded the first and second floors, forcing firefighters to break open the bedroom windows and carry her onto the front porch roof where they began administering CPR. She was then carried down and handed over to EMS officials and transported to Crozer.
Firefighters entered through the front doors and spread searches between the first and second floors while the attack team worked on basement fire from the rear alley. Stations from Briarcliffe, Collingdale, Holmes and Sharon Hill assisted in addition to ladder trucks from Glenolden and Norwood.
Weber said firefighters were met with “extreme” hoarding conditions in the basement and second floor, which hindered search and rescue.
“All the guys did exactly what all their training has taught them,” Weber said. “The searches were very efficient. They found her almost immediately.”
Weber called the hoarding a “general safety issue,” which corrupted the ability of firefighters to conduct fire support and complete a thorough search of the home. He said the majority of the hoarding conditions were in the basement and first floor.
The unidentified woman lived with three pet cats; two of them perished in the fire, but a third was revived on the scene and turned over to Red Paws, a non-profit organization that works in conjunction with the American Red Cross and other emergency services to care for and foster pets injured in fires and other emergencies.