CLEARFIELD – Fire crews in the Clearfield area had a busy weekend with three calls in less than 24 hours.
The first started before 2:30 a.m. Saturday at a home owned by Mark and Kerri Casteel on Clover Hill in Lawrence Township.
Crews were on the scene until about 7:30 a.m., according to Hyde Fire Co. Chief Josh Quigley. Firefighters also returned throughout the weekend to put out spots where the fire had rekindled.
“When it burns that bad into the foundation, that’s what you see is fires starting again,” Quigley said.
On the initial call, volunteers faced several obstacles including a detour due to construction on state Route 879 that caused a need for trucks to be rerouted through downtown Clearfield. Quigley said water was also an issue, as none was available at the scene of the fire.
The location of the home posed other problems due to Clover Hill Road being a narrow street, only allowing one fire truck down the road at a time.
State Police Fire Marshal Mike McCracken of the Clearfield barracks is investigating the cause of the fire. He was on the scene again Monday afternoon with the family.
The Casteels were out of town at the time of the fire, according to Quigley, and the family requested that photographs not be taken of the home Monday afternoon.
McCracken said the structure was insured but has been determined to be a total loss, and Quigley said damage is estimated at $500,000.
Quigley added that five vehicles were stored in the home’s garage including a 1987 Ford Mustang GT, a 1986 Buick Grand National, a 2006 Scion, a 2002 Subaru Impreza and a 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche.
The family requested that no photographs be taken of the scene, which still smelled of smoke and burnt items Monday.
Quigley said the fires Saturday showed why transfer assignments are issued.
While crews were battling the Lawrence Township blaze, another call came out for an unoccupied home on Bigler Avenue in Clearfield Borough.
The home, owned by Martha Tylwalk, was unoccupied for about three years, according to Philipsburg Borough Fire Chief Todd Dixon.
That fire has been deemed suspicious.
Without the transfer assignments, the Clearfield Borough fire would have found Clearfield area volunteers stretched to their limits.
“When you’re short of volunteers, one call has all of them tied up,” Quigley said.
“We brought in some fire companies from far away just in case something happened.”
That foresight paid off when crews from Philipsburg, DuBois and elsewhere were able to quickly be on scene in Clearfield’s East End.
Quigley said no arrest has been made in that fire, which had a damage estimate of $10,000.
An arrest has been made, however, in the investigation into a Saturday night fire at a camp owned by Kenneth Kyler.
Hyde Fire Co. was summoned to Fire Tower Road in Lawrence Township at 8:41 p.m. for a fire that caused the total loss of the camp, valued at $18,000 for the building and $2,000 for the contents.
John Hainsey of Clearfield was arrested for allegedly setting the camp on fire. He remains in Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $100,000 straight bail. (Read more about the Hainsey arrest here.)