RYAN COYLE
WNEP
Reprinted with Permission

Fire tore through five homes early Thursday morning in Pottsville. Several people were hurt, and 17 people are now homeless.


Crews arrived shortly after 3:30 a.m. to flames shooting out of 429 Fairview Street. These pictures were sent to us by coal region fire.

Seven homes in all were damaged by smoke and fire.

"The one resident where the fire started suffered some burns on her hand trying to put the fire out. She was awakened by her smoke detector going off. She was upstairs sleeping when the fire started so the smoke alarm actually alerted her and saved her life most likely," said Pottsville Fire Chief Todd March.

Investigators think the fire got its start in the back of the house in the kitchen.

"What I did was I let my dog out. I turned my burner on. I lit a cigarette. I turned the burner off and then I went upstairs," said homeowner Caren Luppino. She was overcome with emotions looking at what was left of her house. "I went to get my fire extinguisher and I couldn't get that to work. By the time I ran upstairs to get my second fire extinguisher, by the time I got downstairs the whole kitchen was just gone. And then I just ran outside and yelled,'Fire!' Quick. Real quick. I didn't realize how fast that could go."

Now 17 people are homeless.

The American Red Cross was at the scene assisting people like neighbor Andrew Chillemi. The fire quickly spread down the block and into his house.

"As far as I know it's destroyed. The whole side of the house there is a big hole. It's just a mess. I don't know what I'm going to do," Chillemi said.

Officials are still looking into the cause of the fire but they believe it was accidental.

Another problem firefighters faced was the bitterly cold temperatures creating an icy scene. One firefighter was injured when he slipped on the ice.