The bitter cold this week was made worse for two eastern end families when they lost their homes to fire.

Just after 2 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters from five fire departments were called to a residence on County Road 59 in Union Township.Chesapeake-Union Assistant Fire Chief Ed Webb said the fire started in or around the fireplace and did extensive damage to the one-story structure.

"The house did have heavy smoke and water damage," he said. "I'm not an insurance man but it may be a total loss."

One man was home at the time of the fire but he escaped safely from the blaze. Webb said the occupant, whose name was not immediately available, said he heard his smoke alarm going off and realized his house was on fire.

Webb said if anything can be learned from this tragedy, it is that smoke alarms save lives. "Change that battery. They (smoke alarms) do work. You can buy a smoke alarm for maybe $10 and it can save your life. You can't put a price on that."

Firefighters from Burlington, Fayette 2, Proctorville and Rome were on the scene of the Union Township fire, they received a call on another blaze on Big Paddy Creek in Rome Township.

Rome Township Assistant Fire Chief Joe Burgess said fire at a mobile home broke out just before 4 p.m. The incident is under investigation, he said, but appears to be electrical in nature.

Burgess said three people were home at the time of the fire but did escape safely. The American Red Cross was called to provide emergency assistance to the family, whose names were not immediately available.