An elderly Fayetteville man pulled from his burning house by his son-in-law was hospitalized early Tuesday (Dec. 24) and remains in the hospital in fair condition, officials said.
Emergency responders received a report of a home on fire at 3201 Rom Orchard Road at 11:51 p.m. on Monday (Dec. 23), according to Dennis Ledbetter, Washington County fire marshal.
Brett Freeland with the Goshen Fire Department said when firefighters arrived, the home was engulfed in flames.
A friend of the man's said the resident is a 93-year-old World War II veteran and recipient of two Purple Hearts. The friend identified him as Paul Pannell.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but the man in the home did not hear an alarm, according to Freeland. A neighbor said the man wears hearing aids. The man was sent to Washington Regional Medical Center for cuts from the window and smoke inhalation, but the extent of his injuries have not been released, according to Ledbetter.
Pannell was later transported to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo.
The fire rekindled with flames erupting from the house around 6:45 a.m. after crews had left the scene. Washington County firefighters were called back to the scene to douse the flames.