A fast-moving fire consumed a vacant Somerset Township farmhouse Tuesday evening, a blaze Ellsworth Volunteer Fire Chief Craig Pysh said would be under investigation.
“It's a vacant property. I did talk to the owner of the property's brother, but I did not get any other information from him,” Pysh said as members of the Ellsworth fire company continued to extinguish small flames and embers at ground level.
“I contacted the Pennsylvania state fire marshal for them to do their investigation.”
Pysh said he could not provide the name of the owner of the rural property located at Airport Lane, a private drive just off Rutan Road near Route 917.
Firefighters temporarily closed Spud Road, an adjacent private drive that leads to several other homes in the area.
The call came in around 7:30 p.m. Firefighters had to navigate up a winding dirt road past corn fields and woods to the top of a hill where the structure was engulfed in flames.
“(The fire) was fully involved when we got here,” Pysh said. “We did an exterior attack on it, and once we got the water supply set up, we had it under control within 15 minutes.”
All that was left of the structure an hour later was a large stone chimney on one end with a satellite dish attached and an old red-brick chimney at the other end.
The only other parts of the structure remaining were cinder blocks at its foundation.
An abandoned trailer that sits about 25 yards away from the house was unaffected.
Also responding to the scene were the Fallowfield Township, Valley Inn, Lone Pine and Marianna volunteer fire departments. Richeyville was placed on standby.
Rick Bruni Jr. is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at rbruni@tribweb.com or 724-684-2635.
