MOUNT CARMEL - Wednesday morning's accidental fire in the 200 block of East Second Street that destroyed three homes, damaged three others and left 10 people homeless started near a coal stove on the first floor of one of the residences.
After inspecting the fire-ravaged buildings for more than three hours Thursday, fire officials determined that the 8:11 a.m. blaze began on the first floor of 244 E. Second St. and quickly spread to an adjoining dwelling at 242 E. Second St. and other properties.
Mount Carmel Fire Chief Jack Williams Jr. said a flue pipe attached to a coal stove was too close to a wall, causing heat to build up and spread through a fire board into the wall. Williams said the heat near the stove built up over time, drying the wood studs out, before causing a fire to ignite inside the wall.
"The fire started in the middle room wall at 244 E. Second St. that adjoins 242 E. Second St., and then spread vertically up a wall into the attic in the balloon-framed homes," Williams said.
The chief, who inspected the scene Thursday with Cpl. Nicholas Loffredo, a state police fire marshal from Montoursville, Mount Carmel Code Enforcement Officer Robin Williams and Mount Carmel Township Fire Marshal and police Chief Brian Hollenbush, said the homes at 244, 242 and 246 E. Second St. were destroyed. Properties at 248, 250 and 236 E. Second St., sustained minor smoke and water damage and are livable, he said.
Williams estimated overall damage, including property and contents, at 242 E. Second St. to be $215,000. He said damage at 244 E. Second St. totaled $100,000. The fire chief said damage estimates for the four other properties are not available.