Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item
January 01, 2009 03:16 pm
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NORTHUMBERLAND — Three residents of a Strawbridge Road home were hospitalized New Year’s Day as their home was heavily damaged by fire.
Robert D. Beaver, owner of the home at 710 Strawbridge Road, and his wife and adult son were all taken by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center for treatment. Jim Troup, Northumberland fire chief, said one of the three sustained burns and he believed all three would be treated for smoke inhalation.
Troup said flames were licking out windows and a door at one end of the single-story home when he arrived on the scene moments after the 10:12 a.m. alarm was given.
Northumberland firefighters were on their way back to their stations when the alarm was sounded.
“We were here within two minutes of the alarm,” Troup said.
The fire spread through the interior of the house through the eaves, Troup said, and firefighters were able to get inside to fight the flames.
Troup said 40-50 firefighters from Northumberland, Point Township, Sunbury, Shamokin Dam, Upper Augusta and Montour County fire departments fought the fire, with final units clearing the scene at 1:25 p.m.
Norman Fedder, a state police fire marshal, was at the Strawbridge Road fire, but he has not made any determination of the cause since he was unable to interview the witnesses. His initial estimate of damage was $40,000. It was not known if the Beavers were insured.
Just before the Strawbridge Road blaze, Northumberland firefighters had responded to a kitchen fire at 285 Queen St. That alarm came in at 9:39 a.m., Troup said. The homeowner had extinguished the oven fire by the time firefighters arrived, and they were ventilating the house when the alarm for the Strawbridge fire came in.
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