No injuries resulted from a seven-and-a-half hour structure fire that broke out late Monday evening at 1285 Stone Springhouse Road in Cherrytree Township, but Cherrytree fire chief Tom Huffman described the home as a total loss.
Huffman said the homeowner and his son, the only people who were present when the fire started at about 11:35 p.m., were able to exit the building before emergency services arrived.
“They were alerted by a smoke detector and were able to get out in time,” Huffman said.
“The fire was already progressing up to the attic very quickly, and we had to do an exterior firefight on it to try to get it extinguished,” he said.
“We know it started in the basement,” he said, “but the entire first and second floor are caved into the basement, and there’s no way to get in there and even find anything.”
The scene was cleared shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to Venango County 911.
In addition to Cherrytree, volunteer fire departments from Chapmanville, Pleasantville, Oakland, Hydetown and Cornplanter responded, as well as Titusville and Townville fire departments and EmergyCare Ambulance, 911 said.
