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ASHLAND, PA - On December 2, 2009 at 10:15 a.m. the Ashland Fire Department (American and Washington fire companies), and Ashland Ambulance were dispatched to 1322 W Center Street for a house fire. The caller reported to the 911 Center there was a house on fire with a burned victim.

The police arrived in minutes and found smoke coming from the home and confirmed it was a working fire. The smoke continued to spread quickly and moved through out the first and second floor. The assistant fire chief quickly ordered a second alarm to be dispatched to the scene. The Girardville-Rangers Fire Company, Englewood-Butler Township Fire Company, Mount Carmel Ladder 2, Shenandoah Columbia Fire Company and the Altamont-West Mahanoy Township RIT team were dispatched.

Ashland Engine 38-15 arrived on scene first and went to work first. Engine 38-15 established a water supply from a hydrant in front of the building and made an offensive attack to stop the fire. Ashland Engine 38-10 staged in the rear of the building and advanced hose lines to the rear entrance of the home. The Ashland Ladder staged on the A side and sent it ladder to the front roof to start ventilation. Girardville Engine 45-10, Shenandoah Engine 742 and Altamont Engine 367 staged in the area and sent their crew to the A side of the building. The crews from Girardville Rangers Engine 45-10 and Altamont Engine 367 crews backed up the first attack crews and attacked the fire. A male resident who was burnt by the fire was removed from the home and treated by Ashland EMS. Ashland EMS and Shenandoah ALS transported the patient to a local hospital were he was flown to a burn center. The victim’s son was rescued from the fire by a neighbor. He was later transported to a local hospital after he passed out at the fire scene.

Incident Command requested the Mahanoy City RIT team to respond to the scene to stand by. Mahanoy City Humane 451 and West End Rescue 993 responded to the scene and stage away from the scene. The crew from Engine 451 was reassigned to fire attack and the rescue crew remained at RIT. Mount Carmel Ladder 2 arrived and staged west of the fire building. The crew was order to trench cut the roof of the west exposure building. The truck crew from Mount Carmel went to the rear roof and opened it up.

Chief 38 arrived on the scene and assumed incident command of the incident. He then requested Aristes Pumper-Tanker 353, Wilburton Engine and Tanker, Mahanoy City Citizens Engine 454 and Shenandoah Tiller-Ladder 745 to respond to the scene as the third alarm. The interior attack crews found the fire spreading to the second and third floor through the walls. The attack crews entered the first floor with a hose line but were later removed due to dangerous fire conditions. The fire in the third floor vented through the roof causing all operations to go defensive. Incident Command then had Pottsville City West End and Yorkville Fire Companies responded to the scene to be the second RIT Team. Rescue 63 and Ladder 51 staged on Center Street and set their crews to the rear of the building to stand by.

Aristes Pumper-Tanker 353 was reassigned to fire attack and established a water supply from a hydrant in the rear of the fire buildings. Elevated master streams from the Ashland Ladder and Mount Carmel Ladder were directed to the collapsing roof of the fire building. Multiple portable master streams from Engine 38-10 were opened onto the fire building to extinguish it from the rear.

The fire then changed directions and started moved to the structures east of the original fire building. The fire moved through out the walls, common attics and cock loft of the exposure buildings on the B Side. Shenandoah Ladder 745 was then set up to the roof of the exposure building east of the fire building. The truck crew gain access to the roof and trench cut it. A number of hose lines were then advanced to the roof to stop the out of control fire spread. Engine crews from Altamont and Humane were able to stop the fire spread in the western direction by opening up the walls in the last home. Engine crews from Girardville, Shenandoah, and Mahanoy City Citizens were able then stop the fire spread on the eastern side of the primary fire building. The bulk of the fire was knocked down after 12:00 hours and over haul operations started. The engine crews were then able to gain entry in to the primary fire building to extinguish hot spots. The majority of the mutual aid fire units cleaned up and cleared the scene by 14:00 hours. Ashland fire fighters remained on the scene through out the day wetting down the destroyed buildings.

Frackville-Goodwill, Gordon, Fountain Springs Fire Companies were transferred to Ashland to be on stand by. Engines 43-15, 46-10 and 4-10 stood by at the empty American Fire station while their fire fighters were fighting the fire.

The fire was under controlled by 2 PM and all hot spots were out with no rekindles. Ashland Fire Crews remained at the fire scene through out the night to prevent any flare ups. The fire watch crew was also credited for assisting the Ashland Police in catching a car thief that night near the fire scene. A total of six buildings were damaged or destroyed by the fast moving fire. The cost of damage may exceed over $200,000 or more. It was determined a day after the fire that a space heater was the caused.

The fire chief reported that there were no serious injuries to firefighters. Ashland and Frackville Ambulances responded to the scene and assumed control of rehab with the American Red Cross.