Firefighters from a dozen departments in three counties battled a two-alarm blaze Tuesday evening in Mount Joy that left a family homeless.

No one was home at the two-story house at 2135 Cloverleaf Road when the fire ignited about 3 p.m. in a second-floor room, fire officials said.

Two children returning home from school smelled smoke when they entered the house and called 911, Rheems fire Chief Chuck Stanford said. Their parents were at work when the house started burning.

The fire was under control about 6:30 p.m., Stanford said.

Stanford estimated damage at $235,000. Structural losses were estimated at $160,000 and destroyed contents at $75,000.

"The second floor and attic were a total loss, and the first floor (sustained) heavy smoke and water damage," Stanford said.

The home is owned by Gary and Amy Hostetter, according to Lancaster County land records.

The American Red Cross provided the displaced family with money for groceries and clothing.

Firefighters had to deal with sub-freezing temperatures that iced over nearby ponds, eliminating them as sources of water, Rheems Assistant Fire Chief Jon Brandt said.

"We would have been chopping holes in the ice to get water, " Brandt said.

Once firefighters hooked up to a hydrant in the area, they began knocking down the flames — until they encountered another obstacle.

The fire set off live ammunition stored in an upstairs room. Brandt said firefighters had to wait until the ammunition was spent before they could extinguish the blaze.

Flames spread quickly through the old home, Brandt said. Plywood and drywall that separated the second floor from the attic burned in minutes.

As fire crews fought the blaze, a Laidlaw school bus on the scene provided relief from the bitterly cold temperatures.

"When you're out here in 18-degree weather, it takes its toll," Brandt said.

Firefighters from Rheems, Mount Joy, Mastersonville, Hempfield, Manheim, Elizabethtown, Penryn, Bainbridge, West Hempfield and Lebanon and Dauphin counties were on the scene.

A home next door to the one that burned Tuesday was destroyed in a fire three years ago, Stanford recalled. According to newspaper records, that three-alarm fire started when a child played with a lighter. Two firefighters were injured in the blaze.

Earlier Tuesday, fire displaced another family of four from their home in Landisville.

Just before 3 a.m., Shaun Roland, 38, smelled smoke and saw heavy flames outside his two-story home at 193 N. Ridge Drive in the Meadows Edge development.

Roland and the other occupants — Kimberly Abendschoen, 33, and two children, ages 8 and 4 — fled from the home.

The fire caused at least $250,000 in damage, fire officials said. Contents destroyed by the fire included a boat in the garage. Officials were trying Tuesday to determine the cause of the blaze.

American Red Cross assisted the family with clothing and groceries.

Brett Hambright's e-mail address is bhambright@lnpnews.com.