BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A fire destroyed a home and sent two people to the hospital Sunday morning in Schuylkill County.
Neighbors say they have never seen anything like it. They say flames were shooting out the door and that firefighters ran right into the burning home to rescue the people trapped inside.
“My girlfriend called me right, and she said, is it your house. I hung up the phone quick, and I looked out, and the flames where those guys are standing,” neighbor Joan Catizone said.
A home in Butler Township near Ashland was destroyed by flames Sunday. Firefighters across Schuylkill County responding to the blaze. According to fire crews, it took nearly two hours to put the fire out.
“It came in, and it was fully involved when I got here. The guys did a heck of a job here doing what we did that we could save what we could,” Lavelle Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Jason Reichwein said.
A viewer shared a video with Newswatch 16 where smoke can be seen pouring out of the home. One of the challenges facing firefighters was the lack of water in the area.
“The one thing with water is there's no water around here. There's no hydrants. We had to tank water in from tankers and different companies around here,” Reichwein said.
Despite the home being fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, neighbors say they went right inside to help those that were trapped in the building.
“It was blowing pretty badly, the flames were coming way out. I'll tell you what I don't know who those three guys are, but they need a medal the way they went in there and got her out of there and everything,” Catizone said.
The fire chief confirms that a mother and her adult son were inside at the time of the fire, and crews were able to pull them out. They were flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown for treatment.