HEROES WELCOME
Township, family honor rescuers at Ashwood Apartment fire
NORTH COVENTRY » Thursday, July 30, was a night of fire, smoke and terror.
That same night — when the Ashwood Apartments were destroyed by a blaze that required the services of 30 fire departments to extinguish — was also an evening of kindness from next door and across the country, and an evening of heroes.
And Monday night was a time for recognizing those heroes.
The North Coventry Township Board of Supervisors provided the public platform for that recognition by both the public and by family of those rescued.
When first responders arrived at 7:20 p.m. on July 30, they saw flames and smoke pouring from the third-floor windows and roof of the building.
“The fire, unfortunately, was out of control,” said Matt Deichert, the officer in charge of the North Coventry Police Department.
Among the first to answer the call that night was Fire Chief Joe McMillan, who made his way to the third floor and kicked in a door to rescue a resident who was already laying on the floor in the heavy smoke, according to Chuck Hipple, assistant chief at the Norco Fire Company.
He was assisted by firefighters
Jake Sayville and Jimmy Keck, said Hipple.
Also among the first to arrive was North Coventry Police Officer Shane Woodrow, who was offduty at the time. But that did not stop him from rushing into the building and knocking on doors and directing residents out of the building, said Deichert.
Police Cpl. Andrew Zinger was in charge of that night’s shift and when he arrived he helped evacu