JACKSON CENTER, Pennsylvania - A Mercer County family is looking for a temporary home after theirs was engulfed in flames last week. The homeowners say a closed bridge in Jackson Township is to blame for hindering the emergency response.

The bridge in the township is located on Hosack Road and it has been closed since 2020, leaving residents worried about their safety in an emergency.

On March 18 around 6 p.m. the home went up in flames after a fire started in the laundry room. Fire fighters in the township faced delays getting to the scene.

The fire department is roughly three miles from the home and the family's son says other fire departments arrived faster than the township's department

"That bridge being out definitely delayed their response time. Thank god [my parents] got out and they are safe, but if it were a situation where anybody on that street had a medical emergency or anything like that, those are precious minutes that are wasted if emergency services can't get out there." Corey Hoovler, son of the homeowners said. 

The Mercer County Bridge Department says the beams on the bridge are deficient and cannot safely carry the lowest legal load of three tons.

The Hoovler family have been raising their concern with the state, since that's who's in charge of this bridge.

The Jackson Center Township fire chief, Jerry Heckman echoed their concerns. 

"If a tree goes down or something like that goes down, it leaves about 10 houses where there is no way to get safety to them," Heckman told 21 News. 

The family says their plan is to rebuild, but they are looking for a rental home in the meantime.

Even though the bridge has been closed for four years, it was only just this week that PennDOT put out a call for public input on what should be done to fix the problem.

"I do know that the current commissioners have been on board with getting [the bridge] fixed and it's my understanding that they are to be repaired [at]  the end of this year into [2025]." Heckman said.  

To complicate matters further, another nearby bridge is also slated to close for repairs in the near future.