Fire Damages Home in Bristol Twp.’s Crabtree Section

Fire companies from the local area responded to a blaze this afternoon in Bristol Township’s Crabtree section.

According to officials, the call came in shortly before 3 p.m. as neighbors noticed smoke funneling out of a two story house on Coral Lane in Levittown.

The blaze, according to Bristol Township’s Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito, began when the resident was using a plumbing torch to repair pipes that had frozen. The device ignited a fire in the wall which went undiscovered, according to officials. Dippolitio said the residents then left the home to run errands, and smoke was noticed by nearby neighbors.

Levittown Fire Company #2’s Battalion Chief Ryan Flanagan, noted that the fire began in the addition in the back of the home, spreading up the stairwell, damaging the front upstairs bedroom.

When the residents returned home, Edgely, Levittown Fire Company 1 and 2 were already on scene. While the family of 5 was not home when the blaze was discovered, their two dogs were.

“My husband was talking on the phone and walking outside when he saw the house on fire,” said Debbie Miller. “We were more concerned with kids being in the home, the side door was unlocked and so he ran in but the smoke was pretty bad. We yelled for them but no one answered but we saw the dogs. The dogs wouldn’t come to him so I went in and helped.”

Both Spike, a Pitbull, and Diesel, a German Shepard were rescued from the home and are now with family.

“It’s just very sad,” she said. “We are housing some of the family here, they are coming in and out, and they are working with the Red Cross, everyone is safe and that’s all that matters.”

If anyone knows what it’s like to lose a home, that’s Andrew Gallo. Gallo’s home was lost in a blaze on a cold Saturday night last November. His home is just blocks away from the Coral Lane blaze.

“I was actually home today, because I’m still working to rebuild my house, and I started to smell something burning. I started smelling everything, because I guess I’m paranoid now,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t me and when I walked outside, I saw a big cloud of black smoke, I felt like I had to be there, so I ran four blocks down and jumped fences to get there.”

Gallo wanted to make himself available to the family since he knows what they are going through.

“I just feel terrible, it’s a really scary thing to go through, and there’s lots of sharks out there between the public adjusters and contractors,” he said. “It’s the most disgusting thing to deal with when people are trying to solicit and you’re watching your house go up in flames. It’s a scary situation, no one knows what they are going through, it’s like you get hit by lightning. It’s hard to act sanely.”