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Suspicious Fire Destroys Double-Block Home in Lansford

LANSFORD — Officials in Carbon County call a fire Monday morning in Lansford suspicious. It destroyed a double-block home and sent a neighbor to the hospi...

LANSFORD -- Officials in Carbon County call a fire Monday morning in Lansford suspicious.

It destroyed a double-block home and sent a neighbor to the hospital.

Fire crews spent nearly seven hours trying to put out that fire on East Front Street in Lansford, while battling wind, ice, and frigid temperatures.

Heavy smoke billowed from the double-block home in Lansford, hours after the fire started, leaving firefighters a tough battle on a cold, windy morning.

Neighbors say they woke up to the commotion.

"When I saw all the lights, I woke up and came out and realized that there was a fire on the block, and the fire trucks stretched all the way up and down this street," said Jose Candelario.

One of Lansford's veteran firefighters could hardly believe what they were up against.

"Almost like a wildfire in California that you see on TV," said Lansford Assistant Fire Chief Ron Hood. "The wind was fanning the flames almost like in a tornado kind of way."

In the daylight, all that was left was a charred skeleton of the double-block home. Officials say the fire is now under investigation.

"Both houses were unoccupied and there was no electricity to either side. We're looking at this as a suspicious fire," said Hood.

Next-door neighbors had to evacuate. When they came back, they found the entire siding of their house, their driveway, and even their truck encased in ice.

"That's enough for me. I don't want to do this no more, no," said Clayton Warner. "And me and my wife just got done fixing this house all up."

Warner and his wife and daughter all made it out safely. Warner was taken to the hospital for breathing in smoke.

Neighbors believe someone could have been squatting in the place, trying to escape the cold.

"Anything could be possible, anything over there. In this neighborhood, anything could be possible."

State police fire marshals are investigating this suspicious fire.

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