PhillyBurbs.com

Hot ashes cause of blaze

By FREDA R. SAVANA
The Intelligencer

As a soft rain fell Monday afternoon, the acrid smell of smoke was still heavy in the damp air on Middleton Lane in Solebury.

A fast-moving fire, which started when hot ashes from the fireplace were put into the garage, quickly spread into the 2½-story frame house on the 6400 block of the rural neighborhood Sunday night, officials said.

The charred remains of the five-bedroom home were still smoldering some 12 hours later. Firefighters had to return to the scene to dampen some hot spots Monday.

Michael and Betsy Dougherty were home when the fire began about 9 p.m., and were able to escape, according to Scott Fleischer, chief of the Point Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department. He said he believed the family includes three children. No one was injured.

Wind played a major role in spreading the blaze that shot from the first floor of the attached three-car garage to the second, as firefighters arrived. Fleischer said the garage was “fully involved and rapidly spreading” by the time they got to the scene.

Assistant Bucks County Fire Marshal Mark Kramer said the cause of the fire was accidental, sparked by ashes from the home’s fireplace placed somewhere in the garage. No further details were available.

A steady breeze, coupled with the garage doors stuck in the open position, “fanned the fire right through the house.”

Fleisher said the electrically-operated garage doors short circuited from the fire and locked open.

Approximately 10 fire companies responded to the fire, including the Stockton, N.J., department.

With no public water supply available in the township, water to fight the intense blaze had to be trucked in.

Fleisher said the need to bring water in was not a factor in fighting the fire.

Solebury police said local churches are providing the family with clothing. The Doughertys are staying with neighbors, officials said.