HEMPFIELD TWP. — An off-duty volunteer firefighter is being hailed as a hero Saturday after rescuing a wheelchair-bound woman from a fire.
Chet Bell was on his way to work at the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department just before 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning when he passed by a house in the 400 block of Thornton Avenue in Hempfield Township.
He saw smoke coming through the eaves of the house and immediately jumped into action.
Tom Kline, the Hempfield fire chief, said Bell entered through the front door of the house and rescued the woman inside after hearing her calls for help.
"It was remarkable," Kline said of Bell's actions.
He also said the fire, which started in the kitchen, was caused by an electrical problem. There was minimal smoke and water damage to the house during the event.
No injuries have been reported, and the woman's condition and identity weren't immediately released Saturday.
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, Hempfield volunteer Fire Department Capt. Michael Hutchinson said the fire rendered the home uninhabitable. Damage estimates weren't immediately available. %
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