Neighbors shocked after deadly house fire in Butler Twp. neighborhood

BUTLER TWP. — Neighbors say that they cannot believe that someone they knew died in a house fire on Saturday.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, firefighters responded around 6:30 a.m. to a house fire at the 11,000 block of Dogleg Road in Butler Township.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office previously confirmed with News Center 7 that they responded to the scene.

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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson said firefighters have boarded up the house. They want to make sure no one goes inside.

They also put caution tape.

Patterson also spoke with a man who lives just nearby. He saw firefighters at the scene around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Mark Weiss was on his way to his men’s church group.

He noticed when he looked outside.

“I could see the concrete building across the street. It was just red, and that red was from all the first responders that were here,” said Weiss.

He did not see flames but saw smoke.

“The whole front of his house, under the eaves, smoke was just pouring out of it, and the northern end of the house was totally engulfed in smoke. So it was, it was really, really bad,” Weiss told Patterson.

He said that it is an image that he will never forget.

“I didn’t see any flames coming out. That was even more ominous; just to see the smoke billowing out of there,” said Weiss.

He told Patterson that all neighbors on Dogleg Road look after each other.

Weiss said that he later got a text message that broke his heart.

“Later on, they texted me that the coroner’s office had arrived, so we knew when the coroner showed up that we lost one of our neighbors,” he said.

Weiss did not say anything about the victim.

He told Patterson that they have similar-style homes and wanted to know how the fire started.

“50s and 60s, I think that’s the age of their home,” said Weiss.

“Do you know want to know what the cause was?” asked Patterson.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Weiss answered.

Firefighters returned hours later to check for hotspots but found none.

The victim’s name has not yet been released.