NEWKIRK - Fire heavily damaged a home in this Schuylkill Township village Tuesday morning.
Tuscarora fire Chief Thomas Slane Jr. said crews were called to 614 Old Route 209 just after 5:30 a.m. and found heavy fire in a front room.
The owner of the property, Joseph Hartranft, and his son, David, were in a nearby garage when a friend came over. At that point, Slane said someone went to the home to make coffee and found the structure filled with smoke and fire.
Slane said the cause of the fire was accidental, a small electric space heater placed too close to a couch.
"The heater caught the couch on fire and it spread from there," Slane said.
Crews from Tuscarora and surrounding communities managed to keep the majority of the fire to one room but the remainder of the home sustained extensive heat and smoke damage, Slane said.
There was no electricity to the home, Slane said, adding that the Hartranfts used an extension cord from the garage to a surge protector box in the house as its only source of power.
A Tamaqua firefighter suffered a minor knee injury, and a pet pit bull died in the fire, the chief said.
Along with Tuscarora firefighters, volunteers from Tamaqua, Coaldale, New Philadelphia and Walker Township responded to the fire, along with the Tamaqua Rescue Squad, Ryan Township and Tamaqua EMS units and the Pottsville Fire Department Rapid Intervention Team.