April 4, 1997
At 08:30, Engines 1, 13, Snorkel 1, Rescue 1 and Brush 1 went to Egleman's Park on Hill road for what was deemed a training exercise. The career men, along with Fire Chief William H. Rehr, III, and the First and Second Deputy Chiefs that were on that morning, Michael J. Moyer and John M. Sands, proceeded to douse a very large, wooden framed building in the park, known as the Earl Building, with diesel fuel and ignite the structure. This was done because razing expenses for the building would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars. Since this was a faster, and less costly operation, the Department of Fire and Rescue were called upon to burn the building down. Attempts to start the blaze began at around 09:15, but the dampened wood proved stubborn.
During the attempts, Box 76, Front and Buttonwood Streets, was transmitted for a garage fire with entrapment. The men on Engine 3 arrived on the scene within minutes, and found a car engine had been on fire inside an automotive garage on the southeast corner of Pear and Buttonwood Streets, and that it was already doused by a dry chemical extinguisher. By the time Car 6, First Deputy Chief John M. Sands, had cleared this call and proceeded back to Egleman's Park on Hill road, off-duty First Deputy Chief Jeffery L. Squibb keyed up his radio and stated, "It looks good from Lancaster and Funston!"
Within minutes of this broadcast, numerous 9-1-1 calls flooded the Berks County Communications Center at the Courthouse, reporting heavy black smoke pushing from Mount Penn Mountain near the Pagoda. This was an indication to the Telecommunicators at the 9-1-1 center that the planned arson at the Earl Building had taken effect.
The old wooden building stood its ground against red devil for a while, but eventually the structure gave way, leaving nothing but a few stone walls and a pile of smoldering debris. The men on the apparatus that reported to the park had their hands full, dousing numerous brush and tree fires nearby. By noontime, the brush fires were out, and after eating lunch provided by Mom Cass and the City Fire Department's Canteen, the men began wrapping up hose lines and return to their stations.
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