Two woman who were walking by the home heard screams for help from the back of the burning house, and they jumped a fence to help a woman get out of the home, police said. The woman then attempted to return to the house.
“She insisted on going in and helping,” said Scarlett Biggs, one of the bystanders. “Really wanted to go in there and help her family member, but we kind of held her back a little bit, and it was obvious she was dazed and really upset.”
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That woman was later transported to an area hospital for medical treatment. Two dogs also died in the fire, officials said.
Friday’s Yellow Springs incident was the second fatal house fire in the region this month. Two people died in a house fire in Springfield on Aug. 12. The victims still have not been identified, and officials had said it could take weeks to determine the identities.
That fire took place in a home in the 800 block of Wiley Avenue. Firefighters raced to the scene when contacted, officials said, but by the time they got there the house was already fully engulfed. When crews approached the house with hoses, the house collapsed, Springfield Fire Rescue Division Chief Brian Miller previously said.
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One body was found at the bottom of the home’s steps before the collapse. The other was found in the basement after the living room floor collapsed.
There was a possible delay in notification of the fire and crews were forced to fight the fire defensively, officials said. It’s unclear how long the fire was burning before the first 911 call was received.
Crews responded to the fire at 1:53 a.m. on Aug. 12. The last body was pulled from the building at 4 p.m. that day.
The cause of the Springfield fire has not been determined.
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