Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Hope talking with Lycoming Regional Patrolman Michael Engel at scene of Friday's basement fire on Grimesville Road in Old Lycoming Township. PHILIP HOLMES/Sun-Gazette

An elderly man was being treated Friday afternoon at UPMC Williamsport for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in the basement of his Old Lycoming Township home at 223 Grimesville Road, according to Joseph Hope, township deputy fire chief.

The sole 82-year-old resident of the house was coming out the front door when Lycoming Regional police arrived on the scene about 1:30 p.m.

“Smoke was coming out the front door. The man’s head and hands were covered with soot” as he exited the house, Patrolman Michael Engel said.

“I grabbed him and pulled him away from the home,” the officer said.

The resident, whose name was not available, was taken to the hospital by ambulance, fire officials said.

Engel said the resident was “disoriented and confused.” The resident told investigators he had noticed something smoldering in the basement and went outside and sat on the back porch for a while.

A neighbor called 911 after seeing smoke pouring from the house. The resident supposedly re-entered the house and came out the front, where he was met by the officer.

Township and city firefighters rushed to the scene and had the fire extinguished in 10 minutes.

Hope said the cause of the fire was accidental, and the resident, upon being discharged from the hospital, will be getting assistance from family because the house is uninhabitable due to extensive smoke damage throughout the property.

Damage was estimated to be at least $30,000, Hope said.