Overnight fire destroys Denbo home
A home at 2059 2nd St. in Denbo went up in flames early Sunday.
Five residents were able to escape their burning home at 2059 2nd St. in Denbo early Sunday but two dogs perished.
Sandrea Baumgardner lives next door to the two-story house that was destroyed by fire early Sunday in Denbo.
Heat from the fire at 2059 2nd. St. in Denbo damaged the siding of the home of Sandrea Baumgardne, who lives next door.
DENBO – Sandrea Baumgardner – literally – had a rude awakening Sunday.
The house next door, at 2059 2nd St., caught fire about 4:30 a.m. and was in full rage shortly thereafter. Baumgardner was roused from her sleep by neighbors pounding on her doors. She dressed quickly and stepped out of her home.
“When I came out, the flames were so strong I thought they would singe my eyebrows,” she said around noon, after the blaze reduced the neighboring two-story structure to an ashen shell. Seven hours later, smoke still emanated from what had been home to five people in the Denbo section of Centerville Borough.
Derrek White, chief of Denbo-Vesta Six Volunteer Fire Department, said Carrie Jeter and Stefan Cooper were living in the home along with three teens: ages 18, 17 and 13. All were able to escape, although two dogs died in the blaze. The Red Cross is assisting the residents. There were no injuries.
Denbo-Vesta Six was the first of eight fire units to respond, “It was fully involved when we got to the scene,” said White, whose department is about a mile and a half from where the fire occurred.
White said the blaze began when one of the residents was cooking and fell asleep. He said it took about two hours to bring the fire under control, and firefighters were at the scene for about four hours.
The state police fire marshal was at the scene of the house and has yet to determine a cause. Costello Wooten Property Management LLC owns the building.
A vehicle parked in front of that home and one in the yard behind it were damaged by the fire, which did not spread to adjoining properties. But the heat from the blaze did damaged the siding of homes on either side, owned by Baumgardner and Dale MacFann. Baumgardner’s siding buckled badly. Her fence lights likewise were damaged and a tail light on her vehicle melted.
“Firefighters also tore my fence down to get hoses in,” she said.
The fire, according to MacFann, seemed to be more intense on the side nearest to Baumgardner. “The other side started going up to the second floor, then came over to this side,” he said.
Denbo-Vesta Six responded along with fire departments from Bentleyville, Brownsville, California, East Bethlehem, Marianna, Richeyville and West Brownsville, Brownsville Ambulance Services also was on the scene.