A family is safe after what fire officials call a harrowing escape from a burning row house. A fire broke just after 11 a.m. in the 1000 block of Lancaster Avenue in Reading.
Fire ripped through the home, filling it with thick, heavy smoke. Firefighters said a couple inside one of the row homes managed to get out safely, but it took some work.
"Visibility was very poor so he wanted her to physically hang on to his sweatshirt as they went down the stairs. They were hoping to get out of the back of the first floor. At some point and time during this process they got separated," said Reading Fire Marshal Jeremy Searfoss.
Searfoss said the man got outside. By then, the fire had gotten too intense to get back inside from the first floor. Fire officials said the man got on the roof and got back inside to rescue his wife.
"They got out of a rear window safely," Searfoss said.
Nate Peck said he noticed the smoke. Then, he saw the fire.
"It could have been worse. It could have burned the whole house," said Peck. "The way it was burning I thought for sure it was going to take the whole thing."