SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. – A small village outside Shenandoah lost a house to a raging fire Thursday morning. The first dispatch went out at 5:16 AM for a working house fire in the 1100 Block of West Center Street in the Brownsville section of West Mahanoy Township. The first alarm included Fire Districts 36 (W. Mahanoy), 64 (Shenandoah), 45 (Girardville) and West End Rescue 48-50.
Crews arrived on scene to find a two story single family dwelling well involved in fire. High winds were blowing through the area and sending the flames high into the air.
Squrt 64-20 took the address while Engine 64-10 stopped to grab a nearby hydrant. First due firefighters began to apply water to the fire but the small hydrant was not capable of producing the amount of water needed.
As flames continued to fly high into the sky so did embers which led firefighters to focus their efforts on keeping nearby houses safe.
At 5:31 AM a tanker task force was dispatched to the scene. The TTF included tankers from Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, Sheppton, Ringtown and Nuremberg-Weston. An Engine from Gilberton was also dispatched.
Tanker 30-35 and Chief 45 set up the tanker shuttle and began to feed water into the scene.
A two and a half inch line and the waterway from the Squrt were put into action and moments later the house collapsed into a pile of rubble. By this point the fire had spread to a nearby truck, a gazebo and other items in the backyard.
With a steady water supply now established, firefighters were able to stretch more lines and work on the fires in the backyard.
The fire was under control and tankers were released after operating for approximately one hour. The incident was scaled back to West Mahanoy Township crews who would remain on scene to perform overhaul.
The American Red Cross was requested to offer assistance to the displaced occupants. It is unknown if there were any injuries at the scene.
