COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA – Around 8:30 PM on Saturday, April 21 Columbia County dispatched Stations 270 (Numidia), 50 (Catawissa) and 350 (Aristes) to 2191 Mill Road in Locust Twp. for a reported dwelling fire. Units were quickly re-alerted for the working fire.
First arriving crews found a large home set back in the woods with heavy fire throughout. A detached shed was also found to be on the fire on the B side of the structure. All occupants and pets had escaped the house prior to the fire department’s arrival. With the large amount of fire throughout the house, an engine and tanker were requested from Station 240 (Montour Twp.) along with an additional engine from 350 and an air truck from the Bloomsburg Fire Department.
An engine from 270 took its wheels off-road and positioned itself to the C/D corner of the house and began to stretch lines. Engine 57 positioned in the driveway and began to stretch heavy lines to attack the fire. Numidia Engine 273 pulled into the driveway as well and initiated a master stream attack with the deck gun. Water supply was initially an issue as the area didn’t contain hydrants and units had an extended response time.
Firefighters continued to battle the flames and within an hour the bulk of the fire was knocked down. Due to the large size of the house, an extensive amount of overhaul was needed to ensure the fire was completely extinguished. Crews worked well into the night performing mop-up and getting their apparatus back in service.
