Firefighters' quick response prevents garage fire from spreading to house | News, Sports, Jobs

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a garage on Doris Avenue in Old Lycoming Township Monday afternoon. PHILIP HOLMES/Sun-Gazette

The family's barking dog is credited with alerting a teenage son Monday afternoon to a fire in a garage attached to Scott and Cindy Tempesco's home at 1500 Doris Ave., according to Joe Hope, deputy chief of the Old Lycoming Township Volunteer Fire Company.

The son, dog and a bird all made it safely out of the fire, which was discovered around 12:35 p.m., Hope said. No one else was home at the time.

“The dog was barking frantically. When the son looked out the front door to see if anyone was coming, he saw smoke coming from under a garage door,” Let's hope this happens.

After investigating further, the son walked to an interior door and saw “orange flames” in the back of the garage, Hope said, adding that the son immediately called 911.

“There was black smoke coming out of the garage when I arrived,” Hope, the first firefighter to arrive on the scene, said.

In addition to the city fire truck assigned to the township fire station on Dewey Avenue, firefighters from the township, DuBoistown and Montoursville responded to the blaze, which was brought under control within 15 minutes.

No injuries were reported.

The fire is believed to have started in the back of the garage and the cause was likely electrical in nature, Hope said.

Damage was estimated at about $25,000, he said. Although smoke caused minor damage to the home, the Tempesco family of four was not displaced, Hope added. Exhaust fans were used to help clear smoke from the home.

An SUV in the garage was damaged by burning material falling onto the garage floor, Hope said.