RANSOM TOWNSHIP -- Firefighters were called out Friday morning to battle flames at a home in Lackawanna County.
Fire broke out before 11 a.m. at a home in the Sunset Mobile Home Park off Newton Ransom Boulevard.
The Surplus family from Ransom was out and about running errands or at school when their mobile home caught fire. They say it's destroyed and they are mourning the loss of three pets.
The family knew their relatives who live there were safe when they got the call, but as they approached the smoky fire in Ransom Township they knew they wouldn't find any more good news.
"Right away we could see the smoke for maybe four or five miles," said the victim's sister-in-law Lucinda Surplus. "We knew we had to get here. We knew right away that they lost everything. They have nothing left. Their dogs are gone."
Beagles Hunter and Daisy along with poodle-mix Biscuit were killed in the fire. Their owners Ron and Peggy Surplus got a call from a neighbor who first saw the smoke.
Relatives showed up a short time later.
"It's shocking. It's really bad," said the victim's brother Michael Surplus. "They lost everything. They have three children. They lost three pets, two beagles and another dog. They lost absolutely everything and they have no insurance."
Firefighters say when they got there, the flames were concentrated in the back part of the trailer. The heat was so intense that it melted the siding on the neighboring trailer about 20 feet away.
Firefighters think the fire started in the back and though state police fire marshals are still investigating, the Surplus family thinks a wood stove may have contributed to the fire.
The Surplus family has three sons ages 17, 8, and 4. Their Christmas presents, only a few weeks old, were lost in the fire, too.
The kids were in school. Mom was running errands and dad had just left. He wasn't far away.
"He was actually helping another neighbor and he was up here and he didn't see anything and left, then someone called him and said his house was on fire," said Lucinda.
Now, it's those neighbors who say they plan to rally around the Surplus family.
For now, the family of five is staying with relatives and getting help from the Red Cross.
