Shawnee House Fire Kills 1, Sends Firefighter to Hospital

Draped across the house on North Pennsylvania in Shawnee, the yellow tape means keep out, the yellow sign posted reveals the home is unsafe. However, neighbor Chuck Nichols says the opposite was true.

“He was just always friendly,” Nichols said. “He took in a lot of homeless people.”

Nichols said that was before a fire took the life of his friend and neighbor who lived here, a friend who mowed lawns around town and always took in anybody who needed help.

“He's had several people staying here he had people living in both of his sheds,” Nichols said. “Then he had some people staying in the house.”

According to the Shawnee Fire Department, firefighters responded to the home shortly after midnight Wednesday to the unwelcoming inferno.

“Upon arrival at the scene crews noticed and noted flames coming out the side of the house and initially started their search and rescue,” said Jamie Sacco, Public Information Officer for the City of Shawnee.

Sacco says firefighters found a man inside the home and pulled him out.

“He was treated, transported to the hospital where he was later declared deceased,” Sacco said. 

Sacco says a firefighter was also taken to the hospital and is now home and okay. While the home looks okay from the outside, the hints of a fire locked inside prove otherwise.

“The inside's got significant damage to it,” Sacco said.

With the damage already done, Nichols says he will miss his friend.

“He was just a good guy you know,” Nichols said. “I really don't know what to think of it all the different people he had over here there's no telling what really happened.” 

The investigation has yet to uncover how the fire started.