Husband killed, wife hospitalized after fire breaks out at Sewickley Township house
By Kalea Gunderson
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SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A man has died, and a woman has been taken to the hospital after a house fire broke out in Sewickley Township Thursday afternoon.
David Wayne Shotts Sr. died from the fire, Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson said.
Shotts’ wife, Ruth Shotts, was taken by medical helicopter to UPMC Mercy for smoke inhalation and burns to her airway, the coroner said. She remains alive, but her medical status is unknown.
It happened along Yukon Road around 4 p.m. Neighbors said they heard screams and rushed to the house. Three men were able to pull Ruth Schotts from the house.
“She was pretty much unresponsive, but she was still kind of like there, and she told us her husband was in there,” Bradley Cook said. “We tried going back in and getting him too.”
David Wayne Shotts Sr. wasn’t able to make it out.
“I’m not going to lie it feels horrible,” Takoma Gantt said. “What if that was like your dad up in there?”
Hutchinson fire Chief Bill Dull said neighbors reported hearing explosions.
“One of the occupants was actually on oxygen, so we think it has something to do with the oxygen, so that’s probably what they were hearing,” Dull said.
Dull said just getting the flames under control took about 45 minutes.
“Everything was fully engulfed. You couldn’t see anything, and the wires were on fire,” witness, Donna Hoadwonic said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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