Nov 17, 2017 2 min read

An elderly Canton Township woman died early Friday when fire swept through her trailer at the Town and Country Estates mobile home park.

Canton fire Chief Dave Gump said his department was called about 5 a.m., and when the first crews arrived about six minutes after getting the call, flames already had engulfed the home at 434 Brad Ave.

“The fire was coming out the side and on the porch,” Gump said. “It also started coming out the front. It was pretty much engulfed.”

Gump said the victim, Judith A. Rubin, 78, was found in the living room of the residence.

“She was on oxygen and a smoker,” Gump said. “We could hear some muffled booms coming from inside the trailer.”

One of the next-door neighbors told Gump he was awakened by a popping noise.

“We knocked down as much of the fire as we could before we made entry to the house,” Gump said.

Firefighters from South Strabane Township, Chartiers Township and Washington assisted at the scene, bringing water in tanker trucks.

“I didn’t want to rely on the hydrants, because those aren’t always reliable on these hills,” Gump said.

Dana Johnson, who has lived down the street from the victim since 1980, said she was a sweet woman.

“She was like a grandma to us,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s son, William Johnson, and another man, William Walker, cared for the woman. The victim lived alone and did not drive.

Johnson said she was at work when the fire started.

“I understand there was a big boom,” she said.

The heat from the flames was so intense it heavily damaged the siding on an adjacent trailer about 30 feet away and also damaged a second trailer. Gump said the fire did not damage the interior of those trailers.

A state police fire marshal is investigating.