He can still rattle off the names of all the other men who helped to hand-build its first fire station, overhaul its 30-year old fire truck, conduct carnivals to raise a few operating dollars and then join him in responding to the occasional barn and field fires which occurred in the farm community that was then Cranberry Township.īut the other men are gone now, as is the rural character of the settlement into which he and Sally – his high school sweetheart – moved more than 60 years ago. “I’m in total shock.”Īdams Area Fire District, Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company, Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company and Callery Volunteer Fire Company were on the scene from Butler County, and Richland Township Volunteer Fire Department and Wexford Volunteer Fire Company from Allegheny County also responded.Behind the Scenes At Home With… Jim and Sally BurkeĪt age 87, with either five or seven heart attacks – he’s lost track by now – along with a handful of stents, a pacemaker and an assortment of other cardiological aids to keep him going, pioneer Cranberry firefighter Jim Burke knows he’s lucky to still be around.Īs the Township’s first fire chief, Burke clearly recalls the 1959 startup of the Township’s volunteer fire company. The roof of the home was burned by the fire, and the garage’s roof caved in.

“Next thing I know, our neighbor says the house is on fire.”īoth Thompsons were able to get out of the house safely and pull their vehicles out of the garage before the fire spread.

“When I heard the crack, I came outside to see if my husband was going up into the attic,” Rose said.

Her husband went outside to use the stairs to check on the attic when a neighbor reported the flames.Įmergency crews were dispatched around 6:40 p.m. Rose Thompson said she and her husband, Arthur, were at their home at 281 Downieville Road when she heard a “strange crackling” coming from the fireplace. Shane Potter/Butler EagleĪDAMS TWP – A neighbor alerted a township homeowner, who was outside checking on his attic after his wife heard a “crackling sound” that his home was on fire Wednesday, March 8. Firefighters from six different departments fight a house fire in Adams Township on Wednesday evening.

Cranberry township fire