by justin strawser
CLEVELAND TOWNSHIP - An early Tuesday afternoon fire destroyed the summer kitchen of a three-story home in Cleveland Township, but no one was injured in the blaze, according to Locust Township Police Department
Police Chief Allen Breach reported that emergency responders were dispatched to 64 Roosevelt Road at 1:58 p.m. where they found the white house fully involved. They cleared at the scene at 5:45 p.m.
The home is owned by three siblings, Gary Welkom, Michael Welkom and Carol Griffin, but no one was living there at the time of the fire, Breach said.
Gary Welkom's grandson was the last person to reside in the home, but he left this past Saturday to attend school. The home was still furnished, he said.
The one-story attached kitchen and breezeway were destroyed, and there was extensive smoke and water damage to the living quarters, and fire damage to the third floor, Breach said.
The fire is believed to have originated in the kitchen, but a cause has not yet been determined, Breach reported.
State police Fire Marshal Cpl. Shawn Hilbert, out of the Hazleton barracks, will be investigating the scene today.
The three-alarm fire brought out Valley Chemical Fire Company, Numidia; Catawissa Fire Company; Aristes Fire Company; Overlook Fire Company, Ralpho Township; Elysburg Fire Company; Montour Township Fire Company, Bloomsburg; Espy Fire Company, Bloomsburg; Buckhorn Community Volunteer Fire Company, Bloomsburg; Greater Columbia Medical Transport Service, Bloomsburg; AIR Unit, Bloomsburg; and Locust Township Police Department.