ANTHONY TOWNSHIP -- Fire destroyed a home near Salladasburg Monday afternoon.
Fire quickly ripped through the home on Water Company Road, and crews say part of it collapsed while they battled flames from outside.
Neighbors watched as the place went up in smoke.
"It was bad. It must have had a pretty good start. Until somebody saw it because it sits back in and it's really hard to see. Linda, their daughter, was up here and she said it was a 200-year old house,” said Nancy Ward, a neighbor.
A state police fire marshall says no one was home at the time of the fire. He says an adult brother and sister lived here.
There's too much damage to determine what sparked the blaze. It's not considered suspicious.
Neighbors who know the homeowners say they're devastated.
"He pulled in probably about two hours after it happened, him, his sister, and I think it was his mother or grandmother, and I talked to him a few minutes and I think he was pretty shook up. It's heartbreaking,” said Bret Orrico, another neighbor.
One thing that made fighting the fire especially difficult was the lack of water at the site. Tankers had to bring it in from Salladasburg, about five miles away.
"We had to call multiple tankers in. There's a travel distance from here to Salladasburg and back so that in itself makes it tough,” said Chief Jeffrey Tembesco of Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Company.
People living in the quiet area say what happened here is sad, but they're grateful everyone is alive.
"Nobody was there, so thank God for that," said Orrico.
One firefighter was injured at the scene. The chief said she injured her leg. She is expected to be OK.