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 Busy Saturday night in Reading Firefighters and EMS personnel were kept busy all Saturday night and Sunday morning with numerous calls. EMS is never slow but tonight they had to contend with the usual Saturday night activity as well as the fire response. There was a reported stabbing and a number of times other EMS units from outside the city were called in to assist. Fire apparatus also responded with declared emergency medical incidents.
In addition to running medical assists, a majority of the firefighters on duty were assigned to most of the calls and every piece of apparatus was out more than once. The calls included four box alarms of varying severity. At 18:30, Box 125 was dispatched for a reported structure fire in the 800 blk of Franklin Street. Several neighbors called 911 and complained of a smoke condition in the area. Firefighters had to look for the cause and finally found a fire in a basement of a vacant property at 822 Franklin Street. They used a pressurized water extinguisher to put out the burning trash and clothes and a fan to clear the smoke from the basement and upper levels. Smoke also got into one of the exposures. It was noted that someone was apparently living in the basement illegally and the fire was possibly started by careless cooking.
Firefighters again needed to search for a fire at 01:14 Sunday morning, but not for long. Smoke was found pushing from a first floor unit at 121 Windsor Street after firefighters forced their way in to investigate a report from a 2nd floor rear tenant. A small fire was found on the first floor and was quickly extinguished with an 1 3/4. Firefighters then noted a hole in the floor, under the burned pile of debris, and smoke pushing out. A second line was pulled and a crew went in search of an entrance to the basement around the rear. The basement door was opened and firefighters found a heavy smoke condition. They moved in and discovered the basement ceiling involved. The fire was moving across the ceiling through the joists, some of which were heavily charred. Again the fire was extinguished but smoke continued to push from a small section of a wall on the first floor. Firefighters opened the wall and discovered fire beginning to travel upward. As that fire was being put out additional crews began opening up the remaining walls and ceiling in several rooms of the unit and part of the apartment above. After an extensive overhaul the fire was put under control. Upon investigation it was noted that the fire seemed to start in a void space where recent renovations were performed. The incident was turned over for investigation.
While firefighters were still on the scene of the Windsor Street call, another box alarm came in. Box 42 was dispatched for a report of an attic fire at 1029 Walnut Street. When firefighters arrived they were greeted by the occupants who reported some type of fire in a third floor bedroom. An 1 3/4 was taken up to the attic where firefighters found a fish tank on fire. The plastic cover and housing of the hood of the tank were freely burning. Firefighters put the flames out and checked the area surrounding the aquarium for burn damage. It is believed that the electrical components of the hood started the fire. It was not immediately known if any of the fish were injured or what if any effect the incident will have on their development.
The fourth box of the shift yielded another working fire. At 07:13, Box 73 was struck for numerous calls received on a fire at 349 West Green Street. Dispatch also reported a heavy column of smoke which was soon confirmed by Car 3 during the approach. As apparatus arrived, the block was filled with smoke, Engine 3 reported a heavy smoke condition and Engine 11, coming in from the side of the dwelling, reported they had the back of the building fully involved.
A handline was advanced through the first floor, firefighters met the fire as they crawled along. Another crew searched and ventilated the second and third floors. The majority of the fire on the outside had been blackened down by a line that was stretched off Engine 11. Meanwhile the building along the back was laddered and crews began working on the upper floors and the roof of the first floor section. Firefighters quickly knocked down the majority of visible fire and began to move through the structure overhauling. The back of the fire building and the exposure were opened up and area was hosed down.
The exposure was occupied at the time of the fire and a mother and son escaped without injury. The fire building was vacant and appeared to be under renovation. Car 23 was called to investigate the fire which was labeled suspicious. Car 22 also responded to the W. Green Street fire. Apparatus were on the scene for about an hour and a half.
Other fire calls that were dispatched throughout the shift were minor and there were also a few AFAs. At one call at a residence in the 100 blk of North 3rd Street, the occupant called 911 after he could not shut down a kerosene heater. Firefighters arrived and found flames shooting out of the unit. One of the crew members also tried to shut the unit off but the knob wouldn't shut down. The unit was finally shut down after the safety shut off was activated. Firefighters removed the heater from the home and cleared smoke. Elevated readings of Carbon Monoxide gas were detected in the dwelling but cleared by the time the apparatus left the scene.
Thanks to everyone that provided the information for this story.
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