Firefighter work at a blaze in Gamble Township on Monday. PHILIP HOLMES/Sun-Gazette

A raging multiple-alarm blaze burned out of control for two hours Monday afternoon at the Gamble Township home of Dr. Raymond Lukas, a retired anesthesiologist, and his wife Susanna. No one was injured in the fire.

The fire broke out at about 2 p.m. Dr. Lukas, 82, was not in the house at the time, and Mrs. Lukas got out safely except for a bloody hand caused by a family cat she rescued from the fire, according to a neighbor.

The neighbor, who did not give her name, said Mrs. Lukas, a retired nurse, told her that she “was in the kitchen and smelled smoke,” apparently coming from a bedroom. “She quickly shut the bedroom door, and called 911,” the neighbor said. “There was blood all over everywhere. I ran back to my house and got a towel for her injured hand and also wrapped one of my coats around her,” the neighbor said. Mrs. Lukas was treated at the scene and safely kept warm in an ambulance as the fire destroyed the home where she and her husband had lived for at least 20 years.

Firefighters made an interior attack initially, but everyone was pulled out about 2:30 p.m when fire apparatus horns blew for 10 to 20 seconds. In case firemen did not hear a radio transmission ordering them to leave at once, fire truck horns are sounded at the same time.

A second alarm was ordered at 3 p.m. followed by a third alarm minutes later. In addition, calls went out to several more tankers.

Flames, reaching 50 feet in the air. were so intense by 3:15 p.m. that firefighters had to start pulling a fire truck and a ladder apparatus away from the front of the house at 2 Stoney Creek Drive .

Water pressure in the area was so poor that firefighters just could not get enough water to get ahead of the fire, Eldred Township Fire Chief Charles Whitford.

Loud bangs and explosions from ammunition inside the house were going off for more than 30 minutes.

With little or no water pressure, firefighters stood by helplessly as the entire home was consumed by fire.

Much of the home had collapsed into flaming rubble by 3:40 p.m.

In addition to shuttling water tankers from a hydrant near Route 973 and Wallis Run Road, firefighters managed to draft water from Loyalsock Creek. Shortly before 4 p.m., firemen were able once again to start pouring water on the fire, which was declared under control by 4:10 p.m. A state police fire marshal was assisting with determining the origin and cause of the blaze.

Besides Eldred Township, firefighters from Montoursville, Plunketts Creek, Hepburn, Loyalsock, Woodward, Clinton, Old Lycoming townships, South Williamsport, Hughesville, Jersey Shore, Pennsdale, Williamsport, Nisbet, DuBoistown and Trout Run all responded.

Within about 10 minutes after this fire was declared under control, Williamsport firefighters rushed to the 900 block of Wayne Ave., where flames broke out in a double home. No one was injured, but two families were displaced, leaving a total of nine homeless. The local chapter of the American Red Cross was assisting the victims. This fire quickly went to two alarms before it was brought under control about 4:45 p.m. The cause of this blaze also remains under investigation.

The two fires happening back-to-back really taxed fire department resources in the county. Lock Haven firemen, who were covering for Hepburn Township, and Warrior Run Area firefighters, working out of the Montoursville firehouse on Broad Street, both responded to the city fire.

Firefighters from as far north as Canton and as far south as Millville moved to Lycoming County firehouses for part of the day.

Matthew Courter/Sun-Gazette staff assisted with this story.