House fire on State Street does damage but everybody OK

No one was injured Sunday evening in a house fire on the 2400 block of State Street, but the house has significant heat and smoke damage, Chester firefighters said.

The home belongs to Dan Zobel and his wife. Zobel is a well-known reporter for the County Journal newspaper.

Zobel said he, his wife Viviene and their two children had gotten home from a weekend camping trip, and were about to go out for supper when they discovered smoke in their basement. They called the fire department at about 7:30 p.m.

When firefighters arrived they found a house full of smoke. They rescued the family's four cats and two dogs - all OK - and thankfully never faced a raging fire, said Chief Marty Bert. The chief added that there are copper pipes in basement that erupted, and acted like a sprinkler system, keeping the fire in check.

The cause of the fire was unknown as of Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters were on the scene about 90 minutes, or close to 9 p.m. Officials said the house has heat and smoke damage, but the basic structure is OK and will be livable once it is cleaned.