Oct 31, 2005
C Platoon
On the last day of Fire Prevention Month in 2005, a fire fatality occurred in Reading. The incident reminds firefighters that no matter how much we try to convey to the public the importance of smoke detectors and other fire safety tips, there is still much more we need to do. The building reportedly lacked smoke detectors despite housing multiple occupants.
This morning at 09:40, Phone Box 79 came in for a working fire in the 100 blk of Walnut Street. Dispatch received numerous calls and had a visual from their location on the 18th floor of the Court House.
As Engine 3 and Ladder 1 left their station four blocks away they could clearly see the column of smoke rising from the area as well. Engine 3 arrived on location and reported heavy fire from the 2nd and 3rd floors at 129 Walnut. Crews immediately were directed around the side of the building when it was reported that someone was still inside. A side entrance to the upper floors was partitioned off and the crew had to go around to the front to gain access.
A handline was advanced up the stairs leading to the 2nd floor landing where crews were met with high heat and thick black smoke, despite the fire being vented out a large set of dormer windows on the side. The fire soon presented itself as a firefighter broke through the door to the bedroom. The fire engulfed the room and extended into the walls by the time the line was charged. The ceiling was down and the front wall was burnt through. A second handline was ordered for the 3rd floor and a crew began advancing upward. Again met with high heat and zero visibility, the crew began crawling through a narrow hallway. One door to a room on the side of the building was broken into and was searched and vented. No fire was immediately found so the crew headed for the front room. The door was popped and firefighters began to ventilate. The front window had been taken out by the Ladder 1 crew as they headed to the roof and as a firefighter went to take out the other window he encountered an object. Feeling around it was soon discovered to be a body.
The female victim was carried down the two flights of stairs by FF's J. Weber and L. Moyer and turned over to awaiting EMS personnel. She was treated by Paramedics and transported to Reading Hospital where she was soon after pronounced dead.
After the victim was removed, crews began to open up the walls and ceilings on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Heavy fire was discovered in nearly all of openings and eventually the interior was reduced to a shell. The crew on the roof had peeled away nearly half of the covering and deck boards to expose and extinguish the fire that had ascended up to their location. The State Fire Marshal ruled the fire accidental. He believes an electrical malfunction started the fire.
Investigators identified the victim as Wanda Maldonado, age 40. The contributing factor of her death was believed to be smoke inhalation. Maldonado was the first fire fatality of 2005 in the City. In 2004, one male victim died several months after being rescued from his Spring Street apartment.
