Five residents of an historic, 190-old farmhouse fled to safety Sunday night as the second house fire in 24 hours struck the Tamaqua area less than one week before Thanksgiving.

Schuylkill Communications Center dispatched regional units and tanker trucks at 6:30 p.m. to 252 Hillside Drive, Barnesville, for a working structure fire.

Arriving on scene, responders found flames shooting from the upper floor of the building owned by Alice Schmerfeld, who reported that all occupants were safely evacuated.

"It was me, my two daughters, my son and my boyfriend," she said, adding that a dog and two cats also made it out safely.

Firefighters from a wide region responded to the remote location using tanker trucks to bring in a water supply. Quakake Fire Company also set up a portable pond.

Local residents said the flames were intense, fanned to a degree by winds along the hilly location.

"I could see the flames from my house. They were shooting fifty feet into the air," said neighbor Mike Mistishen, long-time volunteer with Ryan Township Emergency Rescue.

Damage appeared to be extensive and the most intense flames could be seen shooting from windows of the second floor.

The property also contains a residential trailer and uses number 266 Hillside Drive.

According to courthouse records, the farmhouse was constructed in 1825. Additional owners are listed as Norma Stramara, Raymond and Minnie Haring and Edna Chapman.

Other responders included fire companies from Ringtown, Delano, Hazle Township, Frackville, Hometown and Mahanoy City.

Also responding were fire police from Hometown and Mahanoy City.

Merle Wertman of Tamaqua, captain of Hometown Fire Police, said sightseers posed an issue in the darkness along the narrow country roads which need to be kept open for large fire trucks to gain access to the site.

"We'll start asking police to give out citations," said Wertman.

The Tamaqua Salvation Army was on hand to help the family meet immediate needs and the American Red Cross was expected to arrive to lend a hand.

Emergency response units and humanitarian aid organizations are being stretched thin as a devastating fire on Orwigsburg Street, Tamaqua, just 24 hours earlier left three homeless and seven displaced.