Fire Heavily Damages Home in Forks [Update]

A fast-moving fire ripped through the garage of a Forks Township home Thursday night, destroying a car and displacing the two people who lived in the house.

Fire Chief Charles Chapman said the fire on 40 Clarendon Drive was deemed accidental and started in the laundry room. He said the fire is still under investigation to determine the exact cause.

See the video of firefighters battling the blaze.

He said the two-story home was heavily damaged by both heat and smoke and was declared not suitable for occupancy. No one was injured, but the chief said that two cats died in the fire.

About 50 firefighters from the Forks Fire Department, along with units from Palmer Township, West Easton, Plainfield Township and Lower Mount Bethel Township, tried to contain the blaze, which engulfed the garage.

Authorities said a couple who live there was out to dinner when the fire broke out before 8 p.m. The fire was knocked down a little more than an hour later.

Firefighters were working to contain the blaze, as neighbors watched from their yards. Some said they came running to the scene after hearing sirens and watching fire engines pull up to the home at the corner of Clarendon and Blossom Hill Road.

Firefighters, using two ladder trucks, hosed down the garage and cut through its roof while braving chilly temperatures.

At least a dozen emergency vehicles -- including Suburban EMS and the Forks police and  public works department -- responded.

Chapman said the fire was dispatched as an automatic alarm and then upgraded to a working dwelling fire. He said Assistant Chief William Carver arrived on scene with Engine 2513 and struck the first alarm.