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Fire kills Youngstown woman in home she lived in 83 years
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
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Officials are investigating the cause of the 123 E. Chalmers Ave. fire that killed 83-year-old Patricia Conway. Her son Hilbert Taylor survived TuesdayÕs fire and was taken to an Akron hospital..
YOUNGSTOWN
Firefighters found Patricia Conway, who died during Tuesday’s South Side house fire, in the same second-floor bedroom in which she was born.
“No one else has ever lived in that house,” said her daughter, Tammy Taylor-Dickey, who fought back tears while describing her mother.
Tuesday afternoon, Taylor-Dickey, her husband Josh Dickey, and neighbors Stacy Crouse and Kevin Runkle stood outside the home, handed down to Conway by her father who built it in 1901.
Fire crews were called out at 3:17 a.m. to 123 E. Chalmers Ave. for a home fully engulfed. Firefighters were informed that the house had two occupants — Hilbert Taylor and his 83-year-old mother Conway.
The Mahoning County Coroner’s office ruled Conway died of smoke inhalation.
Neighbors and family described Conway as a community-driven woman whose life was built around family. Taylor-Dickey said her mom helped raise the grandchildren and was a great storyteller.
“She was still as sharp as a tack,” Taylor-Dickey said.
She and Conway would sit in the backyard swings, talk and identify the birds in her her yard.
Conway was particularly fond of birds.
“The birds would sit outside and wait for her to come out,” Taylor-Dickey said.
“She would even take in feral cats to be spayed or neutered,” said Crouse, who lived next to Conway with her fianc Runkle for a year.
Conway was a member of St. Stanislaus Church for 34 years and spent much of her time cooking for it.
“She would always say, ‘I need pinchers,’” Taylor-Dickey said referring to the constant flow of pirogies Conway made for the church.
The last conversation Taylor-Dickey had with her mother was about food.
“She called to remind me to make linguini for this Sunday,” she said. “She kept calling to remind me.”
Investigators continue their search today for the cause of the blaze. When firefighters arrived at the house, Taylor, no age given, was standing outside the house with unspecified burns to his body. Taylor had called 911 from a cellphone while standing on the roof of the porch to avoid the flames.
Taylor was treated by paramedics at the scene, then transported to the Akron Burn Center for further treatment.
Taylor-Dickey said her brother was in critical but stable condition.
Reports say firefighters attacked the blaze with hoses from the outside so that a search for Conway could begin.
Firefighters did eventually find her on the floor near a front window in a second-story bedroom. Firefighters used ladders to remove her through an upstairs window.
She was not breathing and had second- and third-degree burns on various parts of her body. A second crew of paramedics worked unsuccessfully to revive her.
The building and contents of the house were almost a total loss at $12,000. The house and contents had been valued at $14,900.