Crews from 8 departments extinguish Montour County house fire

Oct. 17—DANVILLE — A house fire on Church Hill Road in Danville on Thursday morning went from second to third alarm due to the remote location, according to first responders.

Shane Shepperson, of Danville, was traveling on Route 54 on his way to the Lowe's hardware store at around 9 a.m. when he saw a plume of smoke.

"I thought it was just a farmer burning a brush pile or something like that," Shepperson said.

At the intersection of Route 642, Shepperson said he saw the house on Church Hill Road with smoke "just barely coming out."

"I responded real quick. I got up here, a lady pulled in behind me. I told her to call 911," Shepperson said. "I checked the occupancy. All the doors were locked. All the windows were locked."

First responders kicked down a door in to free a dog trapped in the house, Shepperson said.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire, according to Valley Township Firefighter Donald Wallish, who was in command on the scene.

First responders initially made a second alarm call. The eight departments took around an hour to knock down the fire, Wallish said.

Because the house was in a remote area, water access was limited and first responders had to rely on tankers to bring the water to them, Wallish said.

The emergency was bumped up to a third-alarm fire because of the location and time of day.

"We knew we'd need more help," Wallish said.

Despite the challenges presented, Wallish said he was satisfied with the outcome.

"We were able to save a whole bunch of it, so that made us very happy," he said.

The Daily Item photographer Robert Inglis contributed to this report.