Tragedy in Pulaski recalls fatal blazes of '93, '80 in area

YOUNGSTOWN -- Nine years ago this month, five children died when fire swept through their South Side house.
The tragedy of Dec. 22, 1993, was repeated in Pulaski, Pa., on Tuesday, when fire destroyed an Amish family's home, leaving five children dead.
The Christmas week fire on West Glenaven Avenue started when a pot of greens left simmering on the stove ignited. The blaze claimed the lives of Wardell and Mary Lee Neely and five of their grandchildren, ages 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9.
Then-Fire Chief Hector Colon called the deaths a firefighter's worst nightmare.
The Christmas tree at Mount Gilead Baptist Church on Hillman Street had to be moved to accommodate two adult and five child-size coffins and the hundreds of people who attended the funeral service.
The boys were dressed in light blue suits and the girls in pink dresses. Inside in each child's small white coffin, firefighters placed a teddy bear or toy lamb.
On Dec. 20, 1980, a Hudson Avenue woman, her 16-year-old son and six of her grandchildren died when fire, caused by faulty wiring, swept through their South Side home. It stands as the city's worst fire.