Two people had to jump from an upstairs window and a third person was transported to the hospital after an early morning fire Friday that destroyed a former log home in downtown Sinking Spring.

“I was the first one that arrived on the scene in the life squad. The whole front of the house was fully engulfed in flames and all four people were standing outside with no shoes,” said Dan McBee, squad chief and safety officer with the Brushcreek Township Volunteer Fire Department.

The house, located near the center of Sinking Spring next to the First Stop store, had a partial second story and was sided, but had originally been a log house.

“It was probably one of the oldest ones in Sinking Spring,” McBee said.

The structure was owned by Larry Parker, who was renting it out.

The Brushcreek Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 5:15 a.m. McBee said that when he arrived on the scene two people had already jumped out of an upstairs window. He said the mother in the home had tried to open a door where the fire was located and received some burns. She was transported to Highland District Hospital in Hillsboro by the Brushcreek Life Squad.

The male and female that jumped from the upstairs refused treatment.

There was a small boy that made it out of the home OK, but with no shoes, according to McBee.

“It was pretty sad. They lost everything they had,” McBee said. “They were standing there with no shoes on. Some of them had socks, but they were wet.”

McBee said the Family Dollar Store across the street from the fire donated socks to the residents. The American Red Cross was also on the scene to help.

Two dogs perished in the fire.

“They were upstairs and the stairway was blocked with fire so the dogs couldn’t get out,” McBee said.

The squad chief said he’s not sure how the fire started, but he said it was possibly due to some type of electric heater.

“It was burnt up too bad to even tell exactly what kind of heater it was,” McBee said.

Firefighters remained on the scene until 2 p.m.

“It was rather difficult to get some of the hotspots completely out,” McBee said. “Those old logs really held the fire and a few of them were inside in difficult places that were hard to get to.”

McBee said the home was a total loss.

Brushcreek received mutual aid at the scene from the Marshall, Paint Creek, Locust Grove and Peebles fire departments.

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or on Twitter @13gillilandj.