BELLEFONTE-- Watching flames rise from the third-floor windows of the historic Bellefonte Victorian Manor, Millie Ragosta and her daughter said they couldn't believe what they were seeing a few dozen feet from their front door.

"Everything comes in threes," said Rose Petrunyak, Ragosta's daughter. "First the Academy, then the Bush House, now this."

The fire at the 347 E. Linn St. bed and breakfast yesterday evening was the third one to destroy a historic Bellefonte building in less than three years.

The former Bellefonte Academy, a 199-year-old building converted to low-income housing, was destroyed in 2004, possibly by children playing with a lighter, according to a release from the Pennsylvania State Police. The Bush House Hotel, where Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh had once stayed, was gutted by a blaze in February 2006.

Then yesterday, the Logan Fire Company in Bellefonte responded to a 911 call around 5 p.m. to a brush fire at the Manor, Chief Fred Bruno said.

As of press time yesterday, Bruno said there was no definite cause for the fire. He added it was possible windy conditions could have led the brush fire to the porch, igniting the house.

About 90 minutes after the fire reportedly began, part of the ceiling and most of the back of the house had collapsed, and all windows were broken. Flames licked the corners of the rooftop as dozens of firefighters worked before the on-looking neighborhood.

The "wows" of children could be heard as three hoses doused the fire. Bruno said two firefighters were treated for minor injuries, and the only person who had been in the building got out safely.

Bellefonte mayor Stanley Goldman said he was not home at the time of the fire but could still sense it when he came home.

"I live right up the street," he said. "I haven't seen [the Manor], but I could tell -- smoke and everything."

The Manor, which was constructed in 1877, was one of 15 homes of the "Second Empire style" in Bellefonte's historic district, according to bellefontemanor.com. However, Goldman said he did not believe the loss of the building would hurt Bellefonte's history.

"It's just something that happens," he said. "We might not have another fire for 30 years."

For Ragosta, who has lived near the Manor since 1976, the loss runs much deeper. She worked as a hostess for the Manor when the borough celebrated its bicentennial anniversary and said every fall and Christmas she looked forward to the "very lovely" porch decorations.

"It really was just quite a showcase," she said.