Feb 3, 2005 By Angie Santello 3 min read

MASONTOWN – Gloria Mickens’ 103 N. Water St. home burned Wednesday evening as firefighters from area departments responded to extinguish the flames shooting through the roof of the two-story home. The fire started around 5:30 p.m. Crowds of onlookers watched smoke billow from the home’s upper story. Smoke could be seen from afar and heat from the fire could be felt two houses back.

Water ran down the sides of North Water Street like two rippling rivers. Hoses snaked outside the home pumped water into the dying blaze.

Firefighters had difficulty putting out the final part of the blaze, despite trying different avenues.

Wet in their gear, a few firefighters from Masontown, Ronco, Smithfield, Edenborn and McClellandtown Volunteer Fire Departments climbed through the burning home to the upper floor, while some of their colleagues stood on the front porch roof shooting water through a small attic window. Still others shot water from a couple of fire truck hoses stationed on the street.

“It was a stubborn fire,” Masontown Fire Chief Paul Renaldi said, noting firefighters eventually extinguished the blaze through “a lot of hard work.” Crews remained on scene for about three and a half hours, Renaldi said.

“I want to thank all the guys that were there,” he said.

No one was inside at the time of the fire because pipes in the home were frozen, forcing Mickens and her children and grandchildren to stay with a relative nearby.

Renaldi said an electric space heater might have caused the blaze. The state police fire marshal was called to investigate, the fire chief noted.

Standing along the roadway watching the house burn, Mickens said this is the second time the house has caught fire, but this time it is not livable. She’s lived in the home since the late 1980s.

Asked what she was going to do, Mickens said, “Take life one day at a time.”

Renaldi said the house has to be torn down.

Patty Blair’s mother lives next door in 105 N. Water St. She hoped the light blue siding on the home was not damaged.

She said her mother wasn’t inside when the fire started, but Blair arrived on scene to scope out the damage.

“I could feel the heat standing way back,” she said. “The flames were just shooting out back there. They cut a hole in the roof.”

A short time later fire consumed the roof and a good portion of the upper story.

“She’ll be scared to stay here,” Blair said about her mother.