A woman was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with minor burns after a fire Tuesday morning struck the home where she was living on Mayfield Avenue in Center Township.

CENTER TWP — A woman was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with minor burns after a fire Tuesday morning struck the home where she was living on Mayfield Avenue, authorities said.

A second person got out unharmed, but a dog died in the blaze, which ignited at about 7:15 a.m.

Suspected careless smoking is blamed for the accidental fire that gutted the house off Route 8, said Trooper Christopher Balcik, a deputy fire marshal who is leading the investigation.

The fire appeared to have started in Caroline Gross' bedroom in back of the house, according to investigators. She lived there with her niece, Bonnie Ziegler, and Ziegler's husband, William.

Authorities said William Ziegler was home and helped get Gross out of the house. The woman has health issues and uses oxygen.Balcik said the home was equipped with smoke detectors.Bonnie Ziegler was at work. She learned of the fire and rushed to the scene.Gross suffered burns on one of her arms that Balcik described as “minor.” Her condition was not available.“She'll be OK,” Bonnie Ziegler said of her aunt.Heavy smoke was pouring out of the ranch-style house when the first fire crew got there, said Nathan Wulff, chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department. Flames were discovered on the back of the house.“We got here and attacked the fire on the outside first,” Wulff said, “and then transitioned inside and got the fire knocked down.”Butler Township Fire District 3 and Chicora Volunteer Fire Departments provided ladder trucks.“Both (ladders) were taken to the roof and utilized for ventilation and fire attacks,” Wulff said.Firefighters used a power saw and ax to cut holes in the roof to allow heat and smoke to escape while crews on the ground used hose lines to control the blaze.A damage estimate was not available but the house is considered a complete loss, Balcik and Wulff said. The property was insured.Bonnie Ziegler said the family lived at the house for 17 years.Other assisting departments were from Butler, West Sunbury, Mercer Road, Oneida Valley and Prospect.