Support pours in for Minquas volunteer firefighter burned in Mill Creek blaze

The News Journal

Locals have teamed up to provide funds, time and food for a 23-year-old firefighter who was critically injured in a big house fire in Mill Creek on Thursday.

Dave Smiley Jr. is at Crozer Burn Center in Pennsylvania with burns on his ankles, hands, neck, ears, stomach and back. Smiley fell through the second floor to the first floor while fighting a blaze in a home in the 3200 block of Mill Creek Road.

"David is in for a long road of recovery," father David Smiley Sr. said in a Facebook post.

The fireman sustained second- and third-degree burns to about 10 percent of his body, Smiley Sr. said. On Friday morning, his condition was upgraded to fair.

The firefighting community jumped into action to help. Edward Reilly, president of the Chester City firefighters local union, is organizing a "food train" for loved ones visiting Smiley Jr.

The union has gathered enough volunteers to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for the family for a week.

"That's part of being in the brotherhood," Reilly said. "It's a burden off the family. One less thing they have to worry about."

Reilly's union has also offered a hotel room near the Pennsylvania hospital for the family, and any meal at a nearby restaurant will be paid for by the union, he said.

All the proceeds from the Dedication and Valor Slow Pitch Softball Tournament will go to Smiley and his family, the tournament's Facebook post said. The organization's committee members decided hours after the fire that they wanted to help out the fireman and his family any way they could.

Registration for the tournament on May 17 is $250 per team, with players as far as Long Island signing up to support Smiley, organizer James Farley said.

Smiley volunteers at Minquas Fire Company and works at Lebanon City Fire Department, according to his Facebook account. Other local fire companies are covering emergencies for Minquas so the crew can visit Smiley together.

Delaware and Pennsylvania companies volunteered to staff the Newport fire department until Sunday morning so the crew can cope, Chief Jon Sokira with Cranston Heights said. The firefighters will be at the station 24 hours a day.

"Newport residents will have 100 percent coverage during this time," Sokira said.
"They are a fairly busy department, but need their time to be with their guy."

The fireman has been intubated and medicated to keep him comfortable until his airway is assessed, Smiley's dad said.

Minquas cautioned on Facebook that there have been no official GoFundMe accounts set up at this time.

The State Fire Marshal's Office has determined that the fire was accidental. It originated in the first-floor laundry room and was caused by an electrical/mechanical malfunction in the dryer, Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Fox said in a press release.

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News Journal reporter Esteban Parra contributed to this story.

Contact Josephine Peterson at (302) 324-2856 or jhpeterson@delawareonline.com. Follow her @jopeterson93.