SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA – At 5:15 AM on Sunday, May 8, Schuylkill County 9-1-1 sent the first alarm to the area of 57 Main Boulevard in the Brandonville section of East Union Township for a reported garage on fire.
Chief 09-02 went responding and was advised of two calls reporting a garage fire, one caller reported hearing a bang then saw fire from the garage. While responding, an additional call was received reporting a fully involved garage.
The Chief arrived on scene and confirmed a well involved single story detached garage with heavy fire also showing from the exposure on the “D” side, a two story vacant dwelling. With the working fire confirmed, East Union Twp. command was established.
Engine 09-10 was directed to position at the A/B and stretch a 2.5″ off the rear. Shenandoah Squrt 745 was directed to take the address of the dwelling and stretch a hand line to the exterior as well.
With no hydrants in the area, Ringtown Tanker 30-35 was directed to drop its portable pond next to the engine and begin a water shuttle. Shenandoah Heights Engine 881 was directed to set up a fill site at the water bottling plant on Spring Water Blvd..
Engine 30-10 arrived and attempted to draft from the portable pond and feed the additional units on scene but suffered from an equipment malfunction which led to Nuremberg Ladder 581, who had just nosed into the A/B corner, to reposition and begin to draft from the portable pond.
Mahanoy City Engine 454 positioned behind the Squrt and stretched an additional hand line to the rear. Mahanoy City Rescue 993 staged on Main Boulevard and established a Rapid Intervention Team.
Due to some issues establishing the fill site and the equipment failure at the portable pond, water supply was not steady throughout the first stages of the incident. Nuremberg Tanker 585 nursed its water into the Squrt while crews were repositioning the water supply. Fire continued to tear through the house and began to travel into an attached garage on the “D” side of the dwelling.
With no response from Tanker 759 and Tanker 09-30 on the way to the scene, Command requested a first alarm tanker task force be dispatched to the scene. The tankers dispatched included Aristes, Hazle Twp., Hometown, Ryan Twp. and Quakake. Nuremberg’s second tanker also responded to the scene.
As a constant water supply was established, crews stretched additional lines off the Squrt to the front and the side of the dwelling. The master stream was also used off the Squrt as well as the front gun on Engine 454. The bulk of the fire was knocked down by 6AM.
Crews continued to pour water onto the buildings and overhaul what pieces of the buildings they could. Firefighters continued to work through the morning and had the fire completely under control around 7AM.
A State Police Fire Marshal was called in to the scene to help determine the cause of the blaze.
As all of the hot spots were doused by crews, tankers began to be released from the scene and firefighters began to pick up their hose. All units were clear of the scene by 9AM.
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