OSAGE — Duane Anderson had just celebrated his birthday the day before he was killed in a house fire on Scott’s Run Road in Osage early Tuesday morning.
His father, local musician and businessman Al Anderson, said Duane turned 58 the day before the fire.
Duane’s son, who is 29, was able to escape by climbing out a window and jumping to the roof next door.
He is now with his mother in Pittsburgh. Al is taking care of the family’s pit bull, which escaped with minor burns.
Al said the dog ran back into the house looking for Duane.
“My son went downstairs. And from there, you know, it consumed him. Probably, probably right away,” Al said.
Duane owned a clothing shop across the street, next to his father’s shoe repair business.
Al said his grandson kept asking why the firefighters took so long, a sentiment that was echoed by several neighbors. According to Al, there’s a stigma associated with being from Osage, and the area is often neglected.
Although it may have seemed like a slow response to those waiting, Granville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Butch Renner said his department was dispatched at 12:57 a.m. and arrived on scene only minutes later, at 1:03 a.m. By then, the house was already fully engulfed. Cassville VFD, Westover VFD and Star City VFD also responded.
“Mon EMS could actually see right after the dispatch when they was coming down Chaplin Road they could see the glow in the sky,” Renner said. “It was well involved by the time we were dispatched, before we even got there.”
The home to the right of Duane’s, which was vacant, was also on fire when firefighters got on scene, Renner said. The flames spread from the exterior, into the eaves and attic. The home on the left suffered heat damage, which melted the vinyl.
The back of Duane’s house collapsed in the fire. Renner said they were confident they had the fire under control at 2:17 a.m.
Firefighters were on scene until about 8:30 a.m. while State Fire Marshals investigated.
Chief Investigator Jason Baltic said the cause of the fire is undetermined because of the amount of damage.
“It’s not completely over because I always like to wait for the autopsy to come back before I close anything out, but I don’t have anything that looks suspicious or anything like that,” Baltic said.
He added that the home did not appear to have any working smoke detectors and encouraged everyone to make sure their homes do.
“We don’t believe there was any working smoke detectors in the house. And you know, we just want to get it out there, everybody needs to have working smoke detectors in their homes,” Baltic said. “If you’re alerted to a fire, get out of the residence as quickly as possible and stay outside. Don’t attempt to fight the fire or, or anything like that.”
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