John and Ida Felix were starting their morning yesterday when smoke alarms sounded throughout their house.
Then they smelled the smoke and saw the flames.
Fire broke out in the basement of the two-story Jacqueline House, the Felixes’ bed and breakfast inn where they make their home on Route 956 in Wilmington Township.
“I was just getting up,” Felix said.
His wife, who was dressed for work, said she saw knee-high flames in the guest bathroom. The couple called the fire department and made a safe escape.
They stood in the yard where a distraught Ida Felix was comforted by next-door neighbors, Jim and Sue Fisher.
Debbie Wagner, a New Wilmington firefighter, said when the department had arrived, no smoke or flames were showing.
However, about 15 minutes later, black smoke was seeping out of the two chimneys. As firefighters entered the basement with their hoses, smoke came out in clouds from the front and back windows of the house.
Carmen Piccirillo, New Wilmington Borough police chief, said he was the first to arrive, and the owners told him the fire was in the bathroom.
“I grabbed an extinguisher and I tried to go inside,” he said, “but the house was so full of smoke I couldn’t see, and the electricity was off.”
The New Wilmington Borough Volunteer Fire Department arrived right behind him, he said.
Piccirillo said he was later informed by a firefighter that the blaze had started in a utility room in the basement and the rest of the home sustained a lot of smoke damage.
Although most of the fire was contained to the basement, some of the flames got into the kitchen area, John Felix said.
Fire Chief Gary Wagner confirmed the blaze had started in the basement. Most of the damage was on the south end of the house and in the basement, he said. The rest of the house sustained heavy smoke damage, he added.
The state police fire marshal has been called to pinpoint the cause, Wagner said, adding, “We have no idea yet how it started. We do know it was accidental.”
New Wilmington’s fire department was assisted by the volunteer fire departments from Neshannock and Pulaski townships, Lackawannock Township, Volant and Mercer.
A section of Route 956 was closed to traffic for about two hours to allow firetrucks to pass.
It was a muggy morning, and firefighters were dressed in heavy gear to battle the blaze and help clear the smoke. Later, they carried charred antique furniture and other items, including Christmas decorations, out of the couple’s basement.
Polly Woodring, an American Red Cross volunteer, handed out bottles of cold water to the firefighters. She offered to arrange for the Felixes to stay at a motel for the night, compliments of the Red Cross.
The couple said they would not be able to stay in the house last night, but they had not yet decided what they were going to do, Woodring said.
The Jacqueline House opened about 20 years ago as a bed and breakfast. It has changed hands a few times since then, with the Felixes owning it for almost three years.
Anna Marie Duncan, who cleans for the couple, said the business attracts people from a wide area.
“The house is beautiful inside,” she said. “Every room has its own theme.”
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