CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. — A state police fire marshal on Monday found that a fire that consumed a Lackawanna County home started by accident.
The fire at 540 Gladiola Drive in Clarks Summit started just after 8:30 a.m. and drew firefighters from Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties.
No injuries were reported. The home was occupied by two adults — Ross Cunningham, 37, Tina Green, 39 — and four children between the ages of 12 and 18. The American Red Cross is helping them with lodging and clothing, state police at Dunmore said.
They moved in one year ago, Cunningham said.
"Me and my lady, we wanted to give our kids something we didn't have," Cunningham said. "And this is a beautiful area, so to come in here last year, it was the beginning of everything we hoped for."
Investigators said the fire may have in one of two ways: from bedding left too near an electric baseboard heater or by a malfunctioning electrical outlet. Either way, it is not considered suspicious.
Once the fire started, it raced up a bedroom wall, engulfed a bed and spread into the attic and into several nearby rooms.
Once they arrived, firefighters had the blaze under control within 10 minutes.
The house, however, is uninhabitable.
"I'm just happy everybody's ok," Cunningham said. "I don't know what I need right now, I just know I have my life. So I can figure the rest out."
A gofundme has been established to help out the family.