Bushkill Township House Fire Under Investigation

The cause of a late-night blaze that leveled a vacant home at 102 Bickert Lane -- just off W. Aluta Mill Road -- in is still under investigation, according to Officer Randy Knauss, and may remain that way for weeks.

Fire departments from , , , , and Wind Gap were dispatched around 10:20 p.m. Jan. 11 for a "fully involved" house fire.

Bushkill's fire chief, Brian Stahl, also requested the to dispatch the township's Ladies Auxiliary.

It took about 45 minutes to an hour to bring the fire under control, Knauss said. Firefighters, however, stayed into the early morning hours to take care of hot spots as debris was moved.

Fire police would not let anyone near the fire due to high-voltage power lines in the area, and some neighboring roads were closed while tanker trucks filled up at fire hydrants.

Bickert Lane is a small, private road, and the house -- along with one other -- sits on a hill. According to Knauss, this made for a tight squeeze for the large fire trucks, but the firefighters were not hindered.

The house at 102 Bickert Lane was vacant and no one was injured, Knauss said. The property is owned by U.S. Bank National Association, according to Northampton County property records, and had been purchased in August 2011.

A neighboring house owned by Ashley Jacoby was not damaged.