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Fire chars 2 city homes
Published: December 21, 2009
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Firefighters climb a ladder to better access a blaze that broke out in the 100 block of Vine Street, Shamokin, on Sunday evening.
SHAMOKIN - No injuries were reported in an intense, fast-moving fire that engulfed two adjoining Vine Street homes Sunday night.
The blaze broke out in the 100 block of North Vine Street just after 7 p.m. Fire officials have not determined the blaze's origin, however, a single home at 104 N. Vine Street was completely ravaged Sunday night, while the neighboring single residence at 102 N. Vine St. sustained exposure damage.
Officials reported that people had been living in the home at 104 N. Vine St.; it is currently unknown whether there were inhabitants at the 102 N. Vine St. address.
Shamokin Fire Chief Bruce Rogers said all residents safely escaped the fire, which was already tearing through the 104 N. Vine St. home by the time emergency respondents arrived.
"There were flames coming from the structure, and the first floor was rolling pretty good," Rogers said. "We got to work as quickly as possible."
To complicate matters, a nearby garage contained oxygen tanks, according to scanner reports. Around 7:40 p.m., all units were warned to evacuate the structures. Crews then went into "defensive mode," fighting the flames from the outside with deck guns shooting high-powered blasts of water.
Rogers said emergency efforts were hampered early on when the fire hydrant nearest the blaze malfunctioned. Crews quickly hooked up lines from other area hydrants and began to extinguish the flames, Rogers said.
As water poured onto the blaze, black smoke enveloped the area, choking onlookers and causing them to move further away from the fire scene. Some had a bird's-eye view of the action while watching from the steps of what was formerly St. Stanislaus Church and, most recently, served as an Islamic mosque. Firefighters later made onlookers vacate the area because of live power wires overhead that were burned up in the blaze.
The fire was under control around 8 p.m., and the alarm box was placed back in service around 10:05 p.m.
Rogers said he was proud of firefighters, who contended with a number of issues Sunday night.
"We had hydrant issues and dealt with the cold temperatures and icy streets, but there were no injuries, and we had a great response from all over," Rogers said.
Responding to the blaze were fire crews from Shamokin, Coal Township, Kulpmont and Mount Carmel, and ambulance crews from AREA Services.
Rogers said an investigation into the blaze is ongoing. Shamokin City Fire Investigator Ray Siko II was at the scene Sunday night.
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