Fire consumed a home in Penn Forest Sunday leaving two men and four pets homeless.

A supervisor with the Carbon County Communications Center said the fire was called in at 10:27 a.m.

Township Fire Chief Thomas Lynd said firefighters were not able to enter 279 Bear Creek Drive due to the amount of fire and the structural integrity of the home.

“We had to tear it down because we could not enter the property to put the fire out,” he said.

Upon arrival, Lynd said the fire accelerated very rapidly due to the wood frame construction and a window blowing out.

“We flooded it as much as we could,” he said, estimating about 40,000 gallons of water was used from tankers.

Heavy fire damage was at the back of the home where a washing machine had been.

Lynd said the amount of fire damage left him unable to determine an actual cause of the fire. He is not requesting a state police fire marshal.

Icy road conditions doubled the response time of firefighters, taking 10 to 15 minutes to arrive. Lynd said the home would still have been a total loss because of the heavy fire and build construction.

Resident Christopher Knoll and his fiance, Joshua Alvira, live at the home Knoll rents from his father. Knoll said Alvira went to put a load of laundry in the washing machine, which is in a closet on the first floor.

He noticed smoke later in the home. Smoke alarms were going off, he said. Knoll went to investigate and seen smoke coming up to the second floor. He told Alvira and they escaped with the two dogs and cats.

“We noticed heavy black smoke,” Knoll said on the first floor.

He also said fire was visible where the washing machine was.

“We got out just in time,” Knoll said.

The Red Cross was on scene, helping the residents. He said the home is insured. They are staying with relatives in Slatington.

Knoll just recovered from COVID-19 before the fire.

“It’s hard,” he said.

A GoFundMe page is set up entitled “Help Chris & Joshua rebuild our home.” A $1,200 goal has been set.