SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA – At 11:59 on Wednesday, September 9, Schuylkill County 9-1-1 transmitted Box 15 for 210 Washington Street in Tamaqua Borough for a reported apartment building fire. The Tamaqua Fire Department, Tamaqua Rescue and Tamaqua EMS were due.
Immediately after dispatch, Tamaqua Police spotted the fire from blocks away and confirmed a working fire. The incident was upgraded to a working fire with possible entrapment in the rear apartment.
Chief 771 arrived on scene with heavy fire venting from the “B” side of the building and requested a second alarm which brought in Fire District 40 (Coaldale) and Carbon Districts 14 (Summit Hill) and 15 (Lansford).
Engine 776 was followed by Ladder 770 and took the address while Engine 784 took the A/B Corner. Multiple lines were stretched including a blitz fire to attempt to knock down the heavy fire load. While some were stretching lines, additional firefighters made entry to perform a primary search.
As additional crews arrived on scene they sent their manpower to the front of the building while their apparatus had to stage away from the scene due to limited access around the building.
Firefighters laddered the building and a team went to the roof to perform vertical ventilation. Once the roof was popped, fire vented through the hole before interior crews darkened the fire.
All searches were negative as all occupants were able to exit the building prior to the fire department’s arrival. EMS was summoned to Ladder 770 to treat a firefighter with heat exhaustion but no serious injuries were reported.
The fire was placed under control at 1:45 AM and the Red Cross was notified to assist seven residents that were displaced by the fire. Chief 771 told a local news station the fire was caused by careless smoking.
