Pocono News Section

Teen Saves Family From Burning Home

Teen Saves Family From Burning Home - Monday, November 17, 2008 at 5:32PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Nov 17, 2008 @ 05:32pm EST
CASS TWP., SCHUYLKILL COUNTY- 19-year-old Josh Ewing was downstairs sleeping on a couch when his South Maple Avenue home caught fire. That's when he smelled smoke, ran outside and saved several of his family members from a second floor window. Now he’s being called a hero.

“I ran over to neighbors, pounded on their door, jumped over the fence, grabbed a ladder and opened up the last window on the second floor. I climbed up and got my niece first, then my mom and nephew and then my step-father," says Josh.

The entire left side of the double block home is gutted. “I wasn't thinking very much at all. I just reacted," he added.

Family members say Michael Sieg was taken to the hospital after being rescued. Everyone else was okay. “He's having pains in his chest and his feet were cut and burned. He had no shoes on," said Michael’s father Rick.

The other side of the home had just been rented out. The tenants moved in only a few belongings, which they quickly had to take back out. Landlord Tony Siminitus said, “This is a different type of Monday, I'll tell you. I never thought it would start like this."

A state police fire marshal spent Monday at the fire scene. Investigators think it started in the rear kitchen of the home.

Family members say they lost a dog in Monday morning's fire. As for their belongings, a majority of them were also lost.