ASHLAND, Pa. — A fire erupted early Friday in Schuylkill County, and according to family members, it took the lives of a brother and sister.
It was right around 12:30 a.m. Friday when the Fountain Springs Fire Department was notified of a house fire on Brown Lane in Butler Township. And even though crews got there within minutes, they were greeted by a raging inferno.
"The building and everything was too far gone," said Fountain Springs Fire Chief Phillip Groody. "We were on the defensive as soon as we got here. There was no interior intact. We already had structural collapse and compromise. We couldn't get in to get them. We had too big of a fireball to deal with."
The blaze was so bad, making it impossible for crews to get inside and save the lives of two people. According to a family member, Alison Houser, 29, and her 13-year-old brother passed away in the home and their bodies weren't recovered until hours later.
Red White and Blue Autos Inc. in Ashland took to Facebook to remember Alison, who, according to the post was a business development specialist with the company.
Investigators add their mother had to escape from a second-story window and was then flown to a local hospital. Two other family members also escaped the fire and one firefighter had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
"It is very tough. It's very tough for everybody involved, the family, us involved on the fire scene. It's a very tough situation."
It's also been windy all day. Officials say that contributed to the fire spreading quickly.
The fire remains under investigation and no cause has been determined yet.