Blaze kills firefighter in his home

A state police fire marshal said there were no smoke detectors in the house.
& lt;a href=mailto:gwin@vindy.com & gt;By HAROLD GWIN & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa.-- A former borough firefighter of the year died this morning in a fire in the home he shared with his parents.
Mark Pollock, 46, of 18 Old Bedford Road, was pronounced dead at UPMC Horizon in Farrell. The Mercer County coroner's office said a cause of death wasn't immediately available.
His parents, John and Shirley Pollock, both in their 70s, suffered burns and smoke inhalation and were hospitalized. John is in the burn unit of Akron Children's Hospital, where a report on his condition was unavailable this morning. Shirley was admitted to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh and was listed as critical this morning.
Robert Ryhal, Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal, said the fire appeared to have started in a chair in the basement of the ranch-style house. A discarded cigarette is the possible cause, he said.
The house had no smoke or fire alarms, Ryhal said, noting that the fire may have burned for some time before a neighbor called 911 after hearing what sounded like an explosion around 1:40 a.m.
Made it to door
All of the Pollock family were apparently awakened by the fire or smoke and were able to get to the front door and get it open but collapsed before they could get outside, Ryhal said.
The first people on the scene, patrolmen from nearby Shenango Township and Southwest Mercer County Regional Police and a borough firefighter, were able to pull John and Shirley outside but didn't see Mark as the house was filled with smoke, Ryhal said.
Mark's body was found a short time later when firefighters knocked down the blaze, Ryhal said.
Shenango Township crews assisted West Middlesex.
Mark had served West Middlesex as a volunteer firefighter for years, earning the department's Firefighter of the Year award in 1992 and its meritorious award for service in 1993.
He left the department five or six years ago and joined the Shenango Township Volunteer Fire Department, said Robert Lucich, West Middlesex fire chief.