A Pottsville home is a total loss and two people are displaced after a fire that killed a pet dog Wednesday afternoon in the city’s Forest Hills section.
No one was home when the fire broke out at 321 Highland Dr. No firefighters were injured, according to Asst. Fire Chief Dave Leibel, of Good Will Fire Co.
A Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal is expected at the scene Thursday to investigate the cause. Leibel said that, based on the level of damage, the fire may have started on the south side of the home.
Emergency personnel were dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. to the home, which sits near a cul de sac on Highland Dr., for an active fire. Firefighters were met by massive flames when they arrived. Shortly after, the home’s roof collapsed and they were forced to fight the fire defensively from outside the building. It took about two hours to get the fire under control.
When they arrived, firefighters were warned there was likely a hoarding situation inside. Leibel said a large amount of belongings inside the home fueled the fire.
“The place was packed,” Leibel told Coal Region Canary.
There were at least 15 propane tanks on the property, and several of them exploded during the fire, Leibel said. The fuel tank on a motorcycle also exploded, and ammunition inside the home was likely going off as well, he said.
Bystanders could feel the heat from several hundred feet away.
A thick, black column of smoke rose from the burning home. It wafted through Forest Hills, down to Mount Carbon, and toward S. Centre St. Trees on the property and the one next to it caught fire at times.
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