Nov 24, 2023 By Mike Jones and Jon Andreassi 3 min read

A woman and her dog leaped to safety from the second floor of their Morris Township house to escape a quick-moving fire as flames consumed the residence early Friday morning.

The woman, who was identified by family members as Pia Crouse, suffered a broken leg and smoke inhalation, but survived and was flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital where she was awake and alert.

“We talked to her (Friday) morning and she was doing OK,” said her son, Emil Crouse, who was at the scene of the fire with other relatives. “We don’t really know (how the fire started).”

Morris Township Fire Chief Dave Dietrich said his department was called to 11 Lemon Hill Road shortly before 3 a.m., and when they arrived there was heavy fire on the second floor of the home. Dietrich said the homeowner crawled out onto the roof and jumped off before emergency crews arrived. He added that it took crews about 30 minutes to be able to get inside the home and start knocking down the fire.

“We had to do a defensive attack for a while because the fire was so intense,” Dietrich said.

The house was destroyed by the fire and was still smoldering around noon as firefighters went back to check on the scene.

“We think it started in the back corner of the residence. That’s where most of the damage was,” Dietrich said.

Emil Crouse said he got a call about 3:45 a.m. that his mother’s home was on fire, but that she had made it out alive. Pia Crouse’s dog that she jumped out the bedroom with survived, although family members said two other dogs, both of which are black German shepherds, were still unaccounted for Friday.

“Everything is gone,” Emil Crouse said of the destruction from the fire.

Family friend Candace Bentz said Crouse is a well-known dog trainer in the area and runs Mt. Serenity Training nearby, so the community is working to help her after she lost nearly everything.

“We don’t know where she is going to live or what she’s going to do,” Bentz said. “She’s just a wonderful, good person.”

Bentz said they are organizing a fundraising drive to help her get necessities, such as a cellphone and some new clothing. Anyone who wants to help can contact Bentz at 724-344-0675 for more information on the fundraising efforts.

Meanwhile, Dietrich said that multiple firefighters had minor injuries, but nothing that required hospitalization. Fire departments from Amwell Township, Lone Pine, South Franklin Township and West Finley Township, along with Morris Township and Waynesburg in Greene County, also responded to the scene. The state police fire marshal was called to investigate the exact cause of the fire.