Fire leaves several homeless
A one-story home on Footedale Road in German Township was heavily damaged in an early Friday morning fire that appears to have been started by an electrical problem, Footedale Volunteer Fire Department Chief Louis DeFrank Jr. said. He said the two or three people that lived in the small house managed to remove some of their belongings after they saw smoke and escaped without injury.
The fire started around 2 a.m. and volunteer firefighters from five departments responded, and got the blaze under control in about 15 or 20 minutes, DeFrank said. They remained at the scene until about 5:20 a.m.
“We had a good response team. We had approximately 25 to 30 firefighters on the scene,” DeFrank said, adding that firefighters had to take turns battling the fire due to high humidity and heat from the fire.
Along with Footedale, firefighters from McClellandtown, New Salem, Edenborn and Masontown responded to the alarm.
DeFrank said he and a state police fire marshal will return to the home to confirm the cause of the fire.
“We’re pretty sure it started in the bedroom area,” DeFrank said. “It appears to be electrical.”
He said he believes the fire was accidental.