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Fire Destroys House In Raccoon Township

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RACCOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - An early Friday morning fire destroyed a home in Raccoon Township, Beaver County.

According to officials, the fire broke out at a home in the 100 block of Maplehurst Drive just after 4:30 a.m.

"Fire was fully involved, the fire was through the roof, roof had collapsed over 50 percent of the house. We went to a defensive attack only it just wasn't safe to put anybody in the house," Raccoon Township Fire Department Asst. Chief Matt Vinisky said.

Neighbors Pat Sloan and Susan Koman first saw the smoke just before 5 a.m.

"It was real smoky, but it seemed like white smoke," Koman said.

"The first thing I could think of was, 'Is he out?'" Sloan said.

Firefighters from seven departments lined up along the narrow street for nearly a quarter mile.

The first task at hand was to figure out if anyone was home. Fortunately, he was not.

"Luckily, we were able to talk to neighbors to find out what type of vehicle he drove and that his vehicle wasn't here so odds of him not being here was pretty good," Vinisky said.

With temperatures hovering around 12 degrees, firefighters set up a heated tent to try to stay warm.

When they arrived on scene, the fire hydrant was frozen. Eventually, crews got it warmed up, but icicles formed on everything touched by the hose's water.

"It's cold. It's snowy, ice is always an issue at this time of the year. Luckily, our township road crew was able to come out and put some anti-skid salt down for us to make things less slippery, but the weather is always a factor," Vinisky said.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

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