Fire Guts Meshoppen Home

(courtesy David Keeler - Rocket-Courier)

7-10-08

Meshoppen Volunteer firefighters used their new ladder truck for the first time Thursday morning at this house fire in Meshoppen Borough. Photo by David Keeler.


A Route 6 home in Meshoppen Borough was gutted by fire this morning, but Meshoppen Volunteer Fire Company officials said they couldnt release the owners’ names because they are away on vacation and until they’re notified of the fire their names can’t be made public.

State Police later in the day, however, confirmed that owner of the home was Carlinda Campbell of Meshoppen.

Laceyville resident Mary Bendock said she spotted smoke coming from the house, which is next door to the former St. Joachim’s Rectory, while she was driving through Meshoppen on her way to work at about 7:30 a.m. Bendock stopped and so did Laceyville area resident Fred Saxer, another motorist passing through town. The two entered the home to see if anyone was inside, but found no one home. “ We shouted upstairs but nobody answered,” Bendock said. Before they left the burning house, they used the phone to call 911, Bendock said.

A family friend Tina Reed said she saw smoke while driving toward Meshoppen on Route 6. Reed said the home’s owners were away on vacation and she was taking care of their two cats and two tanks of fish. “When I saw it was their house I started crying,” Reed said. “They’re my best friends.”

Katrina Vorhees, a member of the Meshoppen Fire Company said she could see smoke from the fire from her Allen Street residence. “I thought it was the funeral home at first,” she said. Vorhees said the family living in the home had two children and had lived there for about 7 years.

Meshoppen Fire Chief Bob Carney said the fire started in an upstairs bedroom and fire damage was limited to the upstairs of the home, however the ground floor suffered water damage.

Carney said he would be calling in a state police fire marshal to determine the cause of the fire. In a news release issued by state police Thursday afternoon, police said that an exact cause of the fire could not be determined due to the destruction caused by the fire.

Along with Meshoppen firefighters, companies from Laceyville and Tunkhannock responded to the scene.

Carney said the fire marked the first time Meshoppen firefighers had used their new ladder truck.

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