Tragic House Fire Kills Pastor & 2 Kids After He Tried to Save Their Lives, Family Home Lost

An Ohio pastor and father of eight died while trying to save his two sons from a fire that engulfed their family home in Orient shortly after midnight Tuesday.

Pastor Mark Robinette is being remembered as a hero after saving his wife and two children from a house fire. 

“He pushed some of them out the window but he was determined he was going to get them all out and if there was a way he would have,” Mark’s brother-in-law, Geoffrey Trapani, told WBNS-TV.

The 55-year-old ran back inside to save two of the family’s sons, Gideon Robinette, 17, and Liam Robinette, 10, but they never came out. 

Authorities later found the father holding his two sons. 

“He was found holding onto them both. The three of them never made it out,” said Haley McGuire, Robinette’s cousin. 

The late pastor and his wife had raised eight children, two of them adopted. 

Robinette served in ministry for nearly 23 years doing missions work in Myanmar and founded Foundation Church in 2000, according to the church’s website.

The pastor’s brother, Paul Robinette, announced his passing in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon.

“Last night around midnight, my brother Mark Robinette lost his life

The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN