McADOO - Two days after a fire tore through a McAdoo home, the community was saddened to learn that the youngest fire victim had died.
Madison Arner, 6, died from complications of smoke inhalation at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest at 8:25 a.m. Monday, according to a statement from the Lehigh County Coroner's Office.
The coroner's office said Arner's family consented to an organ donation to help other children in need.
Condolences began pouring onto social media websites once the news was released Monday morning by her father, John Arner.
Yellow caution tape remained Monday outside the family's boarded-up home at 25 S. Kennedy Drive. Stuffed animals were neatly placed at the front steps of the brick building, across the street from the McAdoo Fire Company.
Madison Arner was rescued by firefighters in a middle bedroom, where she was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest late Saturday night. Firefighters revived Madison by performing CPR on her small body outside the burning home. She was taken to Hazleton General Hospital and then flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital.
Many of the McAdoo firefighters who pulled her from the burning home watched her grow up, McAdoo Assistant Fire Chief Robert Leshko said. Madison's father, John, was a firefighter with the fire company until he moved out of the area, Leshko said. While active with the fire company, Arner would often bring his daughter along, just as other firefighters did with their children.
Madison's mother, Lorraine Searfoss, 45, was also rescued from a front-facing bedroom on the second floor. Leshko said she was barely breathing when firefighters found her.
A firefighter broke Searfoss's bedroom window and a large amount of smoke billowed out. Once the smoke cleared enough, Leshko said, a firefighter saw Lorraine lying in bed and extended a firefighting pole into the room. Searfoss, he said, extended her hand and grabbed the pole but quickly fell unconscious, losing her grip. Firefighters took Lorraine out of the home using a ladder and emergency responders revived Searfoss before she was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital. On Monday, a spokeswoman at the hospital said Lorraine had been released.
Leshko said two other people - Dylan Danko, 21, and Savannah Searfoss, 16 - were in the home and also taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital and then released.
Firefighters went to each bedroom window on the second floor with ladders, fighting intense heat and smoke, he said. Smoke was moving through a central air system, making the conditions more difficult, and crews attempting to enter the building on the first floor dealt with fire and smoke.
Several firefighters were treated at a rehab station to receive water and oxygen to help with the effects of the fire's intense heat and the warm weather. A stress debriefing will be held for crews Wednesday due to the severity of the fire and the emotional toll it may have caused. Most of the volunteers have children.
"It's what we are trained to do but not what we want to do," he said.
Firefighters were cleaning up after their annual block party when they noticed smoke billowing from the home just before 11:30 p.m.
Firefighters sprung into action, moving their apparatus closer to the home as other firefighters ran to the building, all of them without hesitation.
A state police fire marshal determined that the fire began near a dryer due to an electrical malfunction, Leshko said. He said there was only one smoke detector in the building, while his department recommends one for each room and an additional detector on each floor, in places such as a hallway. The coroner's office said the fire is being investigated by McAdoo police and McAdoo fire.
Also living in the home was Jerry Fisher Jr., 45, boyfriend of Lorraine Searfoss, who was not home when the flames broke out.
The family's pet dogs and two cats died in the fire, Leshko said.
Multiple firefighters responded from Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.
Leshko said the fire company is accepting monetary donations for the fire victims. Donations can be sent to: McAdoo Fire Company Inc., attention fire victims, P.O. Box 116, McAdoo, PA 18237.
The American Red Cross is also assisting.