COAL TOWNSHIP -- The corner of Hancock and Tioga Streets were closed for the part of the day near Shamokin. Insurance agents looked over fire-damaged homes, as a gas company worked to close off a pipeline to this home that caught fire on Labor Day.
"It was devastating. We woke up to it. I mean I woke up looked out the window and there was the flames,” said Brenda Carl a neighbor.
Smoke billowed from the roof of a double block home as firefighters doused the intense flames.
A firefighter from the East End Hose and Fire Company and his family lived on one side of the home. A family of three including a young girl who just turned 11 lived on the other side.
"I wouldn't want to see that happen to anybody but when it happens to someone you know it makes it that much worse," said David Yost.
The firefighters who helped put out flames are now collecting donations for the family their fellow crew member who lived inside the home.
"The clothes that they have on them is what they have currently and they have nothing else," said Captain Timothy Yost.
Flames also melted the siding on Brenda Carl's home. She lives across the street.
"There is nothing there. It's completely burned out. The floor collapsed inside everything," said Carl
"We are talking with our company officials and we are going to see what we can do to try and help them out ,” said Yost.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Donations for the families can be dropped off at East End Hose and Fire Company. Contact the hose company for more information.
