Fast-Moving Fire Destroys Home In Center Twp.
CENTER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A family of four was left homeless when flames raced through their home in Beaver County on Friday afternoon.
The fire broke out at a home on McCracken Drive in Center Township shortly before 3 p.m.
"I arrived on scene about seven minutes into the incident with 50 percent involvement," Center Township Fire Department Assistant Chief Bill Brucker said. "The second story was already well off, and flames were already into the roof structure."
Brucker says he believes the home's design played a large part in the extensive damage caused by the fast-moving flames. He said the biggest challenge facing firefighters was the building construction.
He told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti, "With the amount of fire we had and the way homes are built, there's no barriers or brakes between divisions, which are floors. So we were fighting an endless battle for a while, and we did the best we could."
One adult was home at the time of the fire. An eyewitness said she ran outside and collapsed in the street. She was tended to by neighbors before first responders arrived.
One neighbor said she saw smoke and flames and then heard several blasts. Brucker blamed the explosions on several oxygen cylinders that were in the home.
A state fire marshal will try to determine the cause of the blaze.
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