A chair smolders on the lawn of a home at 227 Bonniebrook Road in Jefferson Township Thursday morning as firefighters take a break after dousing a fire in the basement. Patty Osche was watching TV in her living room when she heard a popping noise coming from the basement. When she spotted smoke, she fled the house.

JEFFERSONTWP — Afaulty wood burner sparked a fire Thursday morning in Jefferson Township and forced an elderly woman to flee her Bonniebrook Road double-wide mobile home so fast she could not even grab a winter coat.

Patty Osche tried going back inside for the coat, but thick smoke drove her back out into the cold.

"It probably wasn't a smart thing to do," she later admitted.

Osche was not injured in the fire about 9 a.m., but she bore the signs of a fortunate escape — soot-tinged face and hands, a choking cough and nerves still on edge.

"She's going to be alright," said Capt. Paul Harrity of the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company,"but we want some of our (emergency medical services) people to check her out, to be sure."About 20 firefighters from Saxonburg, Herman and Buffalo Township quickly doused the blaze and saved the house — tucked in the country next to a farm.Adamage estimate was not yet available. Harrity blamed a malfunctioning wood burner in the basement for the fire.Achair plucked from the basement still smoldered on the large yard at the side of home about an hour after the first call.Firefighters pulled other furniture and belongings out of the house and onto the back porch to allow for a better inspection inside and to ensure the fire was completely out, Harrity said.The fire broke out as Osche was home alone watching television in a chair in the living room. She heard a strange noise coming from the basement."It was a popping sound,"she said. "It was like a little explosion. It made me jump off my chair."She made a beeline to the basement door with plans to head down the steps for a closer look."Iwent to turn on the hall light and I saw all the smoke,"Osche said. "I knew there was just too much to go downstairs."She beat a hasty retreat outside and called 911."Thank goodness I had my cell phone with me," Osche said. But she regretted not having time to grab a coat."It's a little bit cold this morning," she said just before a firefighter led her to a truck to get warm while a Saxonburg EMS crew took her blood pressure and provided an oxygen mask.

A firefighter sprays water on a chair that was pulled from a burning home on Bonniebrook Road. A fire official blames a malfunctioning wood burner for starting the fire.