SHICKSHINNY, Pa. — A small memorial has been set up on Furnace Street in Shickshinny; a balloon and a few flowers honor four people who died in a house fire.
It happened just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
A neighbor who didn't want to give his name says the fire was what we woke up to.
"I heard a bang, like an explosion. It was really loud, and I thought it was firecrackers, and right after, there was a second one. I jumped out of bed, looked through the bedroom window, and the flames were at the bottom through the roof," he said.
Eight people were inside when it caught fire.
Michael Shoemaker was one of the people who made it out OK.
He says his wife and teenage son, along with his mother-in-law and his nephew, didn't.
Two of Michael's teenage sons had to jump out of a second-story window. Those boys are being treated in area hospitals.
His brother-in-law also escaped by crawling out of a side window.
"By the time I got around the house with the kids, when I seen my wife and son didn't get out, it was fully gone. By the time they got here, there was oxygen tanks in the house that kept exploding, which probably I guess, ignited it even more of the fire than what happened. I have no idea how it happened. I was just waking up," Michael said.
Since this deadly fire, support has been pouring in from the community.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the fire victims.
Donation bins for the Shoemaker Family are already set up at Thomas Family Market just down the street.
Workers tell us some of the victims worked here.
The Red Cross is also helping the family.
People who live in the neighborhood are still stunned.
It's a terrible tragedy. I mean, it's a terrible loss, and our heart goes out to them," said Robert Thompson of Shickshinny.
A state police fire marshal is still investigating this deadly fire in Shickshinny.
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