HOLLAND TWP. — A father badly injured trying to rescue his son and girlfriend from their burning home pointed the way to volunteer firefighters, who reached the two and got them out before battling the flames yesterday evening.
"It was their bravery, collectively and individually, that led to his rescue," Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III said, referring to Charlie Runge, 11. "We can not thank them enough for what they do."
Holland Township Fire Chief Steve Underhill said that firemen arrived at the old stone farmhouse on Hawks Schoolhouse Road to find "one side fully engulfed, on the first and second floor."
Charles J. Runge, 54, was critically injured but outside the home and able to tell firefighters who was trapped inside, and where.
"We went up through the window he pointed to. It was the very first thing we did," said Underhill, who directed operations at the multi-alarm blaze.
He said there was heavy smoke, but the fire hadn't yet reached that side of the farmhouse. "It was a full rescue mission, that was the first priority," Underhill repeated.
Firemen went in the second-story window and brought out Charlie and Susan A. Nash, 52.
"They were both unconscious when we got them out," the chief said. "You have to do what you've been trained to do. We use our training."
After they were out, he said, "we started the fire suppression."
Volunteer firemen battle a house fire in Holland Township on Feb. 10. Firemen carried a woman and child from the burning building.
Charlie and his father Charles were taken by helicopter to the Lehigh Valley Health Network's Regional Burn Center. They remain in critical condition today, a hospital spokesman reported.
Susan A. Nash, 52, succumbed to her injuries. Kearns said that the elder Runge and Nash were a couple.
Charlie Runge is a longtime, active member of the Holland Township School community and "everyone is hoping for the very, very best," Holland Township Principal Nancy Yard said today.
Charlie, she said, has "many friends and people who care very much about him."
At the township school, Yard said, "All of the students know each other here. It is a very close-knit school and community."
The family dog and cat also died in the fire, Kearns said. An investigation continues today.
According to Kearns, the stone farmhouse is circa 1812 and was "primarily heated by a wood-burning fireplace." The fire, he said, appears "accidental with the origin related to the fireplace."
Police, fire and rescue units were called to the home on Hawks Schoolhouse Road yesterday shortly before 10 p.m.
One firefighter, Milford Fire Captain Tim Krause, tried to get in the burning home, officials said, and was hospitalized and later released.
Chief Underhill said that he couldn't say, at this point, just who had gone into the building to get Charlie and Nash.
"It was cold, rainy, icing," said Kearns. "And they were there fighting that fire."
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