It was dispatched as someone trapped inside, but Ronald Baker had already managed to get out of the two-and-a-half story house on his own through a backdoor when firefighters arrived on the scene just after 7 a.m., Funk said.

Paramedics quickly loaded him onto a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance in order to get him out of the bitter cold as soon as possible.

Firefighters donned self-contained breathing apparatuses and began taking hoses into the burning home at 3025 Whitmoyer Road, but the aggressive interior attack did not last long, Funk said.

“When I arrived on the scene, there was heavy smoke throughout the home on the first and second floors as well as the attic,” Funk said.

PROVIDED - Ronald Baker safely fled from his home on Whitmoyer Road near Turbotville as it went up in flames on Saturday morning.

“The fire had quite a start ahead of us. Crews were inside for about 15 minutes,” but they had to back out because of deteriorating conditions, Funk said. “The wind just pushed the fire right through the entire house,” he said.

“The attic collaped in about 30 minutes and eventually the entire home collapsed,” Funk said.

Fire tanker trucks shuttled water to the scene from a hydrant in the borough, about a mile northeast from the fire.

“The temperature was five degrees, but I believe the windchill was minus 20,” Funk said.

“Some of our hoses and fire trucks were freezing up, but we still managed,to keep water flowing on the fire,” he added.

Baker was taken by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, for evaluation, but it appeared that he did not suffer any serious injuries, Funk said.

A state police fire marshal assigned to the Milton barracks was at the scene trying to determine the origin and cause of the blaze, which remains undetermined at this point.

Besides Warrior Run Area firefighters, volunteers from Milton, Turbot Township, Potts Grove, White Deer Township, Lewisburg, Montgomery Muncy and Clinton Township worked together to battle the fire.

During the fire, which took about 45 minutes to bring under control, firefighters from Mifflinburg moved a fire truck to Warrior Run Area’s firehouse while Sunbury’s American Hose moved an apparatus to Milton’s fire station to handle any other emergencies in the region.