BEAR GAP - A family of four is displaced and their home likely a total loss due to fire Sunday afternoon.
Mark Sharrow, chief of Numidia's Valley Chemical Fire Co., said the Anderson family - Linda and Daniel and their children, Logan, 17, and Laken, 13 - would be able to salvage personal possessions from their home at 124 Wynn School Road, located about one mile east of All Saints Cemetery.
"The structure itself is pretty much a total loss," Sharrow said at the scene, adding that the home is insured.
No one inside the home at the time the blaze broke out was injured, nor were any firefighters hurt during the response. However, Sharrow said two family pets, a cat and dog, were killed.
The Andersons are currently staying with relatives, Sharrow said.
Emergency personnel will return to the scene today to survey the damage in daylight and seek out a cause. There are no definitive plans, yet, to have a state police fire marshal investigate, he said.
Emergency personnel were dispatched about 2:45 p.m. to the rural home in Cleveland Township, Columbia County.
Linda and Logan were the only occupants home when the fire began, Sharrow said.
"(Linda) heard a pop and came outside from a bottom-floor bedroom and saw smoke rolling over (the roof)," he said.
Her son, Logan, walked toward the front of the house and could feel heat and smell smoke before safely exiting.
The first responders on scene arrived by personal vehicle, Sharrow said, and saw flames rising from the front living room window of the 1 1/2-story home and spreading to its roof.
Fire crews from at least eight area departments in Columbia and Northumberland counties responded directly to the scene, with other departments placed on standby.
Firefighters attempted an interior attack but retreated when pieces of the ceiling began to fall to the floor, Sharrow said.
Once outdoors, they focused the attack onto the roof, dousing it with water to cool it down before returning inside to continue fighting the blaze.
The fire was brought under control in about 45 minutes, Sharrow said, and was considered fully extinguished about 5:30 p.m.
The location of the home and the narrow roads leading to it presented some difficulties, Sharrow said.
Water and manpower, however, weren't much of an issue, he said, adding that water was pumped from the family's inground swimming pool at the home's rear and sprayed onto the structure.
Since the incident remains under investigation, Sharrow wouldn't rule any cause out. He did, however, say that it wasn't related to Christmas decorations, as the family tree was located in a room to the home's rear and was not burned up.
Fire crews from Numidia, Catawissa, Montour Township, Marion Heights, Natalie, Aristes, Elysburg and Overlook responded.
Members of the Schuylkill and Eastern Northumberland County Chapter of the American Red Cross were also on scene.