Olney man dies in nighttime house fire, 2 sons escape

When Tyrone Gamble washed his car outside his Olney home, he wouldn't stop after it was clean.

"If he had extra water in his bucket he'd clean your car too," said neighbor Charles Phillips.

Phillips remembered the kindness of his neighbor yesterday hours after Gamble died in an early-morning fire that ripped through his home on Elkins Avenue near 6th Street, fire officials said.

Gamble, 60, and his two adult sons were awakened by a smoke alarm about 4:40 a.m., after the blaze broke out in the living room, fire officials said.

One son made it to the roof, where arriving firefighters rescued him, and the other son ran outside to get a garden hose to help his father put out the fire, according to Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers.

But Gamble was trapped in the living room by the flames. He was pronounced dead after the fire was brought under control about 5 a.m., Ayers said. Gamble was the 10th fire fatality this year.

Gamble's wife was at work at the time of the fire, Ayers said.

Ayers said that the smoke alarm was working but that it wasn't positioned properly - it was not close to the ceiling, as recommended. If it had been better positioned, he said, it may have sounded sooner.

Ayers cautioned residents to never attempt to put out a fire themselves.

"We can't even breathe the smoke; it will knock us out," Ayers said.

He also urged residents to establish and practice escape plans and to remove fire hazards.As a cleanup crew worked outside Gamble's home yesterday, Phillips and others struggled with the loss.

"He was a wonderful man," Phillips said.

"It's terrible," said Steve Smith.

Phillips said the neighbors were organizing a collection so that Gamble's family could rebuild their home and start to heal.

"It's gonna take time to heal, but we'll help them rebuild brick by brick because we want them back," he said. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Firefighters will pass out fire-prevention materials to residents and install smoke alarms for free in the immediate area about 3 p.m. today, fire officials said.