By Karen Blackledge
DANVILLE — A fire of unknown origin destroyed a Mahoning Township house that has been vacant for some time at 110 Lower St. around 8:10 p.m. Wednesday.
State fire marshal Norman Fedder, of the Milton barracks, was at the scene to try to determine a cause before the structure was demolished.
Leslie Young, assistant chief of the East End Fire Company in Mahoning Township, expected the two-story structure to be torn down Wednesday night because it posed a safety hazard and wasn’t structurally sound.
“We expect to be here to make sure there aren’t any flareups,” she said.
John Pickin, of Shamokin, who owns the house, was called by his son about the fire. He said he has owned the house for five to eight years and was planning to rehabilitate it. He said he had obtained a permit last summer through Mahoning Township to rehabilitate the structure. He didn’t have any insurance on the frame structure, which was 16 feet by 35 feet. “No one lived in it for a long time,” Pickin said.
Firefighters had the blaze under control within 20 minutes, Young said.
“We had a good turnout and plenty of water,” she said.
Young said they fought the fire from outside. About 60 firefighters responded.
Assisting the East End company were firefighters from Danville, Southside, Valley Township, Montour Township in Columbia County, the Bloomsburg Fire Rapid Intervention Team, Danville ambulance, Mahoning Township police and Danville police.
