Fire heavily damages house in Hermitage

May 4--HERMITAGE -- Two local residents and their pet are safe after their home was destroyed in a fire over the weekend.

First responders were alerted to a house fire at 5593 Virginia Road, Hermitage, at 5:08 p.m. Saturday. When firefighters arrived, the two-story house was already fully involved in fire, Hermitage fire Chief John Flynn said.

The homeowner Joseph Mihalcin and his wife said they were down the road moving at a relative's lawn at the time of the fire. Flynn said neighbors were able to get a dog out of the house through a back door. The dog suffered some minor smoke inhalation.

"A bunch of people were out mowing their yards, and a lot of the neighbors were out and about, taking advantage of the weather," Flynn said.

Responding fire departments included Hermitage, Patagonia, Clark, Jefferson Township, Mercer, West Middlesex and Shenango Township. Since the house was about 3,000 feet from the nearest hydrants, Flynn said most of the additional fire departments were called to provide tanker trucks with additional water.

"I'd estimate we probably used about 10,000 gallons of water," Flynn said.

Firefighters were able to get the fire under control within five to 10 minutes while preventing further damage from a garage next to the house that only suffered from some melted siding. The rest of the water was used to make sure the fire was completely extinguished, Flynn said.

The Red Cross was contacted to assist the homeowners. Flynn said he also believed the neighbors later also collected some clothes and funds to help the Mahalcins.

One firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion but was checked out at the scene and recovered. As the year draws nearer to summer, Flynn said dealing with heat exhaustion can become a challenge due to the body heat that can be retained while wearing the firefighters' turnout gear, and it requires more firefighters on scene to rotate with those fighting a fire.

"In wintertime, one guy can maybe keep going the whole time, but in the summertime the same person may have to take a break and someone else will replace them for awhile," Flynn said.

Firefighters cleared the scene around 8 to 8:15 p.m., Flynn said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Flynn said there did not appear to be anything suspicious. Once the investigation is complete, the insurance company will determine whether the house will have to be demolished.

"The shell of the house is there, but the interior is really heavily charred," Flynn said. "You would have to replace a lot of stuff on the inside to get it structurally sound."

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