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Couple escapes house fire unharmed

By Lori Cathey

A Bradford couple escaped danger but lost their home early Thursday morning.

Jason and Shannon Makowski told firefighters smoke alarms in their home did not sound, but they did wake up in time to get out of the house safely. The couple reported seeing a large orange glow through the smoke coming from the utility room.

Jason Makowski posted live video of the fire at about 6 a.m. Thursday to the couple’s joint Facebook account.

In the video, he says, “I’m just so thankful this morning the Lord woke me up. We were able to escape the house.”

Around 5:40 a.m. Dec. 28, crews from the Bradford and Gibson County Fire Departments responded to a report of a structure fire between Bradford and Milan.

The first arriving crew confirmed a working structure fire with a house fully involved. With temperatures in the teens and the wind blowing around 15 miles per hour, firefighters battled the blaze for about two hours. Gibson County EMS was on standby at the scene, but no injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

The home was completely destroyed, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Mike Crocker, of Bradford, owns the residence.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Mr. Makowski wrote on Facebook, “I want to say thanks to everyone for all the prayers all the support and all the giving! Me and my wife have been overwhelmed with all the generosity!! There are no people like God’s people!! Y’all are the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for!!!”

Shyanna McFarland created a GoFundMe account, Makowski house relief, to raise money to help the couple rebuild. Go to gofundme.com/makowski-house-fire-relief to make a donation.

Crystal Burns, Trenton Gazette, contributed to this report.

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