SHAMOKIN - Terry Drumheller and his brother, Richard, were playing an online game on Playstation 3 with Salvadore Jones through Bluetooth technology when they heard their friend swear. Minutes later, Jones's house was up in flames and he would lose nearly everything he owned.
"It's a good thing they called 911 so quickly. It saved the row," said Jean Howell Sunday afternoon, mother of Terry and Richard Drumheller, referring to the houses connected to 101 N. Marshall St., where Jones rents. The connected houses experienced smoke damage.
Howell, who lives at 137 E. Arch St., stood on her back porch, which faces the burned out home, with her son and explained that Jones was asleep on her couch inside.
Firefighters responded at approximately 10:30 p.m. Saturday to the fire, which is about two blocks from the Northumberland Count Career and Arts Center. It was knocked down by 11:10 p.m. and firefighters were called back into service at 12:28 a.m. Sunday.
The owner of the building is Andy Cagle.
While a police chief was unable to be reached for official cause, Drumheller said Jones saw a blue spark coming from an outlet. By the time Jones came to the house and they stepped back outside, they saw a fire had already started.
Both sons ran into the house: one turned off the breakers on the first floor while the other saved the cat and attempted to pour buckets of water onto the fire.
The fire singed Drumheller's hair.
"If I burned myself, oh well, I was trying to do something good," he said.
Howell and Drumheller said Jones lived in the house for seven years and worked as a shift manager at Lowe's in Selinsgrove.
No injuries were reported, but Jones kept most of his possessions in the upstairs room where the fire started. Heavey damage on the second and third floors of the building could be seen from the street.
"He lost everything," said Howell.
While the family said the fire company put the flames out quickly, they criticized them for breaking out a window without having a hose ready to douse the flames.
The fire is still under investigation.