GILBERTON - A home in the Long Row section of Gilberton borough sustained minor damage from a fire in the furnace room at the back of the house on Friday about noon.
Firefighters from Gilberton, Mahanoy Plane, Frackville, Englewood, Mahanoy City and Shenandoah were called to 110 Long Row Road about 11:45 a.m. for a fire in the wall caused by a malfunctioning oil burner. Frackville EMS was also on scene.
With the exception of the Continental Hose Company No. 3 fire truck and personnel, all fire units began to leave within a half hour of the callout. To assure there was no fire in the walls, a firefighter from West End Fire and Rescue Company of Mahanoy City used a thermal camera to check for hot spots. None were found.
"We were dispatched for an oil burner malfunction with fire in the wall," said Gilberton Fire Marshal Barry Brassington. "When we got to the scene, we quickly extinguished it. That's basically it."
Brassington said the oil burner was shut down and the family was trying to find someone to check the unit for possible repairs.
Homeowner Tamal Antonelli and his brother, Joseph Minnich, Mahanoy City, were in the house at the time when the fire was discovered.
"My wife went to the store and I laid down and fell asleep," Antonelli said, who is one of six people living in the house.
"And I was in the living room and decided to go outside for a cigarette, and when I was outside I saw smoke," Minnich said. "I opened the door (to the furnace room) and all of this black smoke came out."
Continental Hose President Larry Levy advised Antonelli that the family would not be able to stay in the house without heat. Antonelli was considering his options on where his family could stay if the oil burner could not be restarted before day's end.
Levy said that the situation could have been much worse if no one had been home to detect the fire when it started.