It began as a stove fire. The flames spread and within a short time, the entire kitchen was ablaze in a Lansford row home Monday night.

Quick response by firefighters resulted in the containment of the fire and averted a potentially major conflagration.The fire happened at about 6:30 p.m. at 530 E. Kline Ave. in Lansford. When firefighters reached the scene, they found a "working fire" in the kitchen of the home.The house is one of four attached, two-story wooden dwellings on the narrow street.Lansford Fire Chief Joe Greco said the fire was started by hot oil on a stove.Greco said both Coaldale and Summit Hill Fire Departments were having drills at the time of the alarm, so they responded quickly with mutual aid."We were able to contain the fire to the kitchen area," said Greco. He said there was smoke and heat damage to other areas of the home.Greco said the couple who lived in the house will be staying with relatives in Hazleton."The response for us, Coaldale and Summit Hill was phenomenal," Greco said. "The only issue we had was establishing water at the beginning because of the tight alley."Even this didn't turn out to be a major issue because the water flowed to the scene in the nick of time for quick extinguishing of the flames.None of the neighboring dwellings had serious damages.Dense smoke filled the entire 500 block of East Kline Avenue as well as the surrounding area.One of the houses in the four-home complex is vacant and is in a deteriorated condition, neighbors said.Tim Alger, of 522 E. Kline Ave., said that vacant house is so bad that you can stand inside it and look up through holes in the floors.Alger said he was taking garbage out when he heard someone screaming. He said the resident whose house was on fire began knocking on his door.He opened the door and the neighbor screamed, "Call 911."A rapid intervention team from the Tamaqua Fire Department also responded, as well as fire police, Lansford police and Lehighton Ambulance.