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15 Year Old Hero Saves Family From Embers
James Wilts a 15 year old from Emmittsberg is credited with waking his mother Mes Ger Cool and 20 siblings after a stove explosion leveled their Crystal Foust Road home at 1048 pm Saturday. He climbed to the back porch and broke a window to alert his brothers and sisters aged eight months to 16 years. The house, owned by Martin Swearer, suffered about 1500 dollars in damage. Emmitsburg Vigrant Hose Company battled the blaze until 2 am. The Cool family is staying with relatives while seeking new housing. Also, a timber barn on the Leonard Gilles pie farm near Simmons Road, four miles east of Emmitsburg, burned at 1 pm Sunday. Firefighters from Emmitsburg and the Tarreytonize Department worked three and a half hours, laying 1900 feet of hose to a neighboring pond. Nearby, brisk eastward winds sparked several grass fires kept under control. In Bethel Lutheran Church’s Christmas program, Rev. E. K. Being leads the service with a full page of songs, recitations, and readings performed by children and the junior choir.