Firefighters battle a fully involved structure fire amid freezing temperatures along Bloomfield Road in Roaring Spring on Thursday evening. The residence was located down a long, one-lane gravel road, which proved a challenge for firefighters trying to get tankers near the blaze. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor

ROARING SPRING — One man was left homeless after his house was deemed a total loss following a fully involved dwelling fire Thursday evening.

The Friendship Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched about 3:35 p.m. for a dwelling fire along the 1800 block of Bloomfield Road just outside Roaring Spring, according to Fire Chief James Musselman.

“When we arrived on scene, it was already well involved on the first floor and moving to the second floor,” Musselman said. “Fire was blowing out the windows.”

The homeowner and his dog escaped the fire without injury, Musselman said, but the area where the homeowner indicated he kept his pet rabbit and cat were already “well off.”

“We don’t know if they perished or made it out,” Musselman said.

The fire marshal wasn’t called as Musselman ruled the blaze to be accidental, saying the homeowner didn’t have insurance so there was no benefit to burning his house down.

“He said he was having problems with his wood burner all week,” Musselman said. “He pulled a piece of wood out of the fire that he thought wasn’t burning and dumped water on it. He’s almost legally blind, so that’s why he thinks he might have caused the fire.”

Musselman said the homeowner was having trouble keeping the wood burning and might have thought the wood he removed from the burner was a little green or not completely dry.

“Chances are, it probably was burning and he couldn’t see because of his vision impairment,” Musselman said.

The man’s sister, as well as the Red Cross, are helping him get back on his feet, Musselman said.

While the day’s temperature was hovering around freezing, leaving firefighters hauling hose amid snow flurries, Musselman said the biggest challenge they faced was navigating the lane leading to the property, as it “was barely wide enough for fire trucks to get down.” The lane also doubled back, creating an almost hairpin turn that went up a hillside, where the house sat close to the edge.

“The house was almost on the lane, so we couldn’t get (tankers) up around,” Musselman said. “So we had to drag lines up over the hillside and try to fight from that angle. The location in general just made it very difficult.”

Musselman said fighting the fire was “a defensive action” basically “from the time we got on scene.”

“We were putting out hotspots all over the place,” Musselman said.

He added fires like this can “unfortunately” be common, “especially when you have warm days and then cold days.”

The scene was cleared about 7 p.m. In addition to AMED, the Friendship Volunteer Fire Department was joined on scene by Claysburg, Duncansville, Phoenix, Williamsburg, Martinsburg, Southern Cove and Cumberland Valley fire departments.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.