Friday Fire Levels Home off Renovo Road; At Least One Injury Reported

COLEBROOK TOWNSHIP – Hampered by a lack of a nearby water source, firemen could do little more than pour what water they could bring in by tanker onto a two-and-a-half story frame structure they found aflame on Friday afternoon.

Lock Haven Fire Chief Norm Wolfrom said the building was destroyed and a state police fire marshal has been called in. The structure, on Oak Ridge Lane, a gravel road paralleling the Renovo Road, was fully involved when firemen arrived, Wolfrom said.

A person at the scene with knowledge of those living inside, said the building is owned and occupied by Krista Young. He said she had just traveled to Florida and was not at home when the fire broke out. He said there were three occupants inside at the time; two made their way out safely but had to smash out a window to extricate an elderly resident who could not get out a door. That person, he said, was taken to UPMC Lock Haven Hospital for treatment of burns; the other two for smoke inhalation.

Firemen had to fill multiple tankers off hydrants on Susquehanna Avenue in Lock Haven, six miles away from the fire scene. Wolfrom said firemen had to deal with temperatures of 110 to 115 degrees. Flames scorched the nearby lawn and badly damaged two vehicles parked adjacent to the structure and the siding on a nearby garage.

Wolfrom said eight Clinton County fire companies responded, three each from Lycoming and Centre counties. In all, he said, 50 firemen answered the alarm but there was little firemen could do. He said the first arrivals could see the flames from the Renovo Road as they approached.