PULASKI, PA — An oil, wood, and coal burning furnace is being blamed for a fire that engulfed the rural home of an Amish family in western Pennsylvania Tuesday evening, killing five children, according to Janice Ackerman, a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Two parents and four children survived. The parents, Rudy and Lizzie Wengerd, were said to be in the process of restoring the farmhouse to “pre-modern convenience” days by disconnecting the electrical and plumbing systems. The five victims, all members of the Wengerd family, included Katie, 14, Levi, 12, Neil, 11, John, 4, and Jonathon, 2.

Publication date: 12/02/2002