BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Massive flames destroyed two homes and damaged three others in Bloomsburg overnight, and now, crews plan to search for a possible body inside that rubble.
The fire chief says it was only a matter of minutes before the double block on Fair Street was completely engulfed in flames around 1 a.m. Sunday.
Crews arrived quickly, but the fire became too dangerous for them to go in and make sure everyone made it out alive.
“It was just fully engulfed in flames. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said neighbor Bonnie Fulop.
“Extremely hot, and it was just the fire was consuming that building. You could just watch it in front of your eyes. It was that rapid,” Bloomsburg Fire Chief Scott McBride said.
McBride says crews spent five hours getting the flames under control. Now, all that's left of the duplex is a pile of charred rubble. And across the street even more signs of the fire's intensity, Fulop is dealing with damage as well.
“It was so hot that the blinds on the inside of my windows melted inside,” Fulop said.
The fire chief tells Newswatch 16 the home next door was empty when the fire happened. Four people lived in the duplex that was leveled. Right now, all but one person is accounted for.
“The fourth occupant hasn’t been located yet, but at this point with the amount of fire that was there, anything is possible,” said McBride.
Right now, investigators are not releasing the identity of the missing man. Bloomsburg police are monitoring the scene until a cadaver dog can be brought in to search through the debris.
A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire, but the fire chief says the damage is so severe, that may not be found.
Investigators plan to be back on Monday morning to see if they are able to find out if anyone perished in this fire, but so far, the three people who lived there are staying somewhere else.