Fire victims rescued from blaze in Schuylkill County

MINERSVILLE, Pa. — A raging fire broke out in Schuylkill County on Thursday morning.

Newswatch 16 obtained viewer video from Chuck Helms showing the smoke pouring from a home along Pleasant Street in Minersville.

Crews began fighting this fire just after 4:30 a.m.

Henry Purcell is lucky to be alive after flames tore through his home and another early Thursday morning on Pleasant Street in Minersville. He says his next-door neighbor saved his life.

“I couldn’t believe what he did for me. He kicked the door in and carried me down the steps,” said Purcell.

Condemned signs now hang on the doors. The properties are severely damaged by smoke and water.

Purcell was asleep when the fire started just before 4:30 a.m., but his neighbor Allen Schrader and his wife Kaitlyn were awake, getting ready for work.

“I was going to walk to Sheetz in Pottsville, and he was going to ride his electric bike, so I was up getting ready, completely in the middle of getting dressed, when he came running up and said, ‘There’s a fire. You need to get the kids and get out,'” said Kaitlyn Schrader.

The Red Cross is helping the Schraders and their four young children. The family just moved in December and didn’t have renters insurance yet.

“We came from a very hard time at the end of last year, and we were finally starting to rebuild and get things back on the right track,” said Schrader.

All seven people made it out of the two homes safely, but Purcell says his dog Heidi is still missing.

“She’s a German shepherd, a silver German shepherd, and she’s about 7 years old,” Purcell said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Schrader family.

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