Fire Rips through Pennsylvania Duplexes

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. (WNEP) – Investigators are looking for the cause of Tuesday morning’s massive fire in Schuylkill County that forced nearly a dozen people from their homes.

Crews got the call about 3 a.m.

Eleven people are out of their homes, two double-homes were destroyed, and a third has heavy damage.

Firefighters faced a mass of flame coming from a cluster of homes on South Lehigh Street in Tamaqua.

William Bowman was in one of those homes. “I couldn’t come out the front door. I had to go out the back and once I got out the back, I couldn’t see nothing,” Bowman said.

Bowman, who has owned his home for 14 years, said he lost everything he had, and he’s thankful he didn’t lose his life.

Shaleen Hoben also lived there, a couple doors away from where the fire apparently started. She heard the screams of a neighbor, and ran to safety. There was nothing she could do as she watched the flames move toward, and eventually damage her home.

“I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t do nothing. I was in such shock,” Hoben said.

Harold Moseley considers himself lucky. His home has only smoke and water damage. A granddaughter helped him get to safety.

“I was in the bed sleeping, so I grabbed, put my pants on real quick, put my slippers on and I came out and it was really blazing,” Moseley said.

While no people were hurt, some pets were didn’t make it out of the fire.  Newswatch 16 was there as one victim was reunited with her dog.

This was a complicated and intense fire.  The flames were so hot, they melted the siding of a home across the street and firefighters were concerned homes behind Lehigh Street could catch fire as well.

Those homes are just a few feet apart, and Tamaqua Fire Chief Jim Connely said he is happy those homes were saved and a home at the end of the block has only smoke and water damage.

“The fire companies made a good stop, got the protection line in place right away and they stopped it from going any more south,” Connely said.

He added the police department got there first, and made sure everyone was out of the homes.  It made the firefighters’ job easier because they could concentrate on putting out the fire, instead of going inside and looking for residents.

No one was hurt.  

There is no cause, and the fire-damaged double homes are being torn down.