Flames engulfed a home on Williams Crossing Road in Lebanon and caused it to collapse Thursday morning, fueled by 15 gallons of gasoline stored in the basement,a ccording to the fire marshal.
"They couldn't put it out. They had to let it burn. It was just too much," said homeowner Joe Wyspianski. "You just start thinking about all your things that are in your house, and things you don't even think you had, and then you remember."
Firefighters tried to work their way inside the home to search for people who may have been trapped, but flames forced them back out. Officials said one firefighter suffered minor injuries but is expected to be OK.
"As soon as we found out that no one was home, we took a defensive posture because it was just going to be bad," said Lebanon Fire Marshal Scott Schuett.
Flames ripped through the home for more than two hours before the structure gave way and the house collapsed in on itself.
Helpless, Wyspianski watched it happen.
"This poor guy is standing there, seeing everything he had go up in flames," said Schuett.
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Wyspianski stood by as excavators began sifting through the rubble. Schuett said investigators have traced the fire's origin to the basement and are digging through debris to get to it.
"Where do you go from here? What do you do next?" Wyspianski wondered. "I don't know. I've got to meet with the Red Cross. I have a lot of friends that have offered to help and places to stay, so I don't know... a day at a time..."
