RUSH TOWNSHIP -- A cooking mishap sparked a house fire at the edge of Black Moshannon State Park Wednesday morning, leaving one couple temporarily homeless.
Philipsburg Fire Department Assistant Chief Tim Townsend said grease on a stove started the blaze, which heavily damaged Larry Orndorf's home at 246 McCord Road.
It was unclear where Orndorf and his wife, who was at work at the time of the blaze, would be staying or whether the couple had insurance.
Townsend said the kitchen area sustained the heaviest damage, with heat and smoke damage throughout the home.
However, he said, the fire could have been much worse had it not been for the quick action of the local forestry officials, who dispatched brush firefighting trucks to the scene.
Townsend said the trucks, while not able to put out the blaze, kept it from spreading to the rest of the home and nearby forests.
Five companies from Centre County and five from Clearfield County were called to the scene.
That much assistance was needed, Townsend said, because of the heat, which can quickly fatigue firefighters outfitted in full turnout gear, and because of the lack of hydrants in the area.
A fill site, where trucks could obtain water and then truck it back to the scene, was set up at the Black Moshannon dam.
Distributed by the Associated Press
