Family left homeless after fire ravages Fairfield home

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A Montoursville area family of three was left homeless Tuesday afternoon when fire extensively damaged a Harris Lane home built nearly 100 years ago that has been in the family for three generations.

No one was home when the fire at the Fairfield Township residence of Thomas and Jacirene Thomas about 1:40 p.m. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

There were no injuries.

The blaze was discovered by Thomas' cousin, William Way, who just lives just up the road and was at his mother's home, next to the scene, when he and his 26-year-old son, Seth, saw smoke pouring from the two-story property.

"We were cutting wood in my mother's backyard, and we saw smoke coming from one window," Way said.

He and his son entered the burning house and began yelling to see if anyone was inside.

"There was some smoke on the first floor, but not a lot. We tried to go upstairs, but we couldn't get very far. We only went up about seven steps. The smoke was just too thick," Way said, adding that he and his son fled the house.

"We shut the house up tight in an attempt to contain it (the fire). We then called the fire company." he added.

At the time of the fire, Thomas was checking on a family property in Williamsport while his wife and son, also named Thomas, were at work.

When volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene, there were flames shooting from a second-floor bedroom window at the back of the house, Montoursville Fire Chief Brett Welty said.

Harris Lane is a one-lane dirt road off of Brushy Ridge Road, making access to the scene for the large trucks quite tricky.

Firefighters quickly donned self-contained breathing apparatus, taking hoses into the home through the front and back doors.

"Flames had already engulfed one bedroom, and were spreading to a second one. Fire were coming down a hallway when crews reached the second floor," Welty said.

"The guys really did a great job in extinguishing the fire, using very little water," he added.

In addition to Montoursville, firefighters from Loyalsock, Eldred, Pennsdale, Montgomery and the city responded and worked for nearly an hour to bring the fire under control.

Firefighters drafted water from two ponds less than 50 yards away.

A state police fire marshal will assist investigators in determining the cause of the fire, which Welty said was not suspicious. A damage estimate has not yet been set.

Thomas said the property has been in his family since his grandfather purchased it years ago.

The displaced family will be staying with relatives.

"We'll take care of them," his cousin said.