Five people were left homeless Thursday evening in Pottsville after food left on a stove caught fire.
The fire at 706 Mount Hope Ave. forced a woman and her two children to stay elsewhere, and an adjoining renter and her fiance to also call somewhere else home for the night.
"We had food left on the stove that caught the kitchen on fire that extended into the ceiling," of 706, Pottsville duty officer Steve Karinch said as he stood outside the home.
Smoke damaged 708 Mount Hope Ave., the residence next door, he said.
He did not have a damage estimate.
The Pottsville Fire Department was called to the scene at 6:32 p.m., Karinch said. It took about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, he said.
Lynn Salabsky, 26, who lives where the fire started was crying at the scene.
"I think I left pierogies on the stove," she said of how she thought the fire started.
She had gone to a nearby store. Neighbors told her the house was on fire. Her two young children were with her at the time.
Her two dogs were safe thanks to a neighbor. Her cat and the neighbor's cat were missing, Karinch said.
She does not have insurance.
Robert Nelson, who lives nearby, said he saw smoke coming from the back of the house and ran with a neighbor to help with a fire extinguisher.
The other neighbor put the dogs on the front porch. Still another got them to safety.
Pat Daley, a volunteer with the American Red Cross, said lodging and other help will be provided to the families.