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Wednesday, February 12, 1958
In the late morning hours, several people noticed a fire on the roof of the
boiler house of the Reading Steam Heat building, located on the north corner
of Reed and Elm streets. Box 318, Reed and Elm Streets, was sounded at
10:45. The sounding of the first bell alarm sent the Juniors, Keystones,
Neversinks and Schuylkills to the scene.
A second alarm was requested at 10:47, which brought out the Hampdens,
Rainbows and Reading Hose.
Within an hours time, flames had consumed most of the roof. Heavy smoke rising high in the air from the burning roof materials attracted hundred of spectators to the fire. Two hose line burst during the fire fighting operations. One burst under Assistant Chief Batastini's car and another that burst in the rear of the building, showered spectators with water. Freezing temperatures caused the water to freeze. One fireman from the Neversinks, Robert Smyth, 39, slipped off of the Steam Heat's roof, fifteen feet to an alleyway. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Earl W. Hassler, a 48 year old from the Schuylkills, was treated for injuries he sustained to his left leg when he was struck by a piece of roof when it collapsed.
The fire left many downtown area buildings without any heat. At the height
of the fire, Alarm Room Operator Thomas Doerrman, was swamped with calls
from the many calls from customers of the steam heat, who inquired when
their service would be returned.
To accommodate Steam Heat customers, the Reading Railroad Company brought in a steam engine to one of the side rails closest to Elm street. From there, workers hooked up the steam engine to the Reading Steam Heat's underground heating system. Thus, a make-shift supply of heat was generated until the Steam Heat could get back in service.
During the fire, Alarm Room Operator Doerrman dispatched the Friendships engine, along with Assistant Chief Batastini to an American District Telegraph fire alarm at Community General Hospital. The area where the alarm system went off at was near a Reading Steam Heat piping system. Assistant Chief Batastini reported that the heat given off from the fire probably tripped the detector.
The fire was contained to the boiler room and roof area above the boiler
house. An "out tap" was sounded at 13:58. Sometime after 14:00, a large
crane was brought in to lift burning girders from the top of the building.
Firefighters didn't leave the scene until after 16:00.
This company, started in 1887, manufactured heat through six boilers and
supplied area buildings through a network of underground piping. All
totaled, there were 25 city blocks that were supplied. This encompassed an
area on Penn Street from 3rd to 7th, along 6th Street from Elm to Franklin,
5th Street from Buttonwood to Pine, Court Street from 7th to 5th, and 4th
Street from Walnut to Penn. Many of the structures erected over the past
60-years in this area could be identified as they had no chimneys or flues.
In 1955, William W. Schaeffer, president of the company, estimated 500
metered customers.
Local, state and private inspectors were called in to check on the damage.
The state inspector asked that all the boilers stay down for at least three
weeks, while another inspector disagreed, contesting that only the interior
damage to the boilers was a broken three-quarter pipe that was damaged by
falling timbers from the roof. The pipe was replaced and at 19:30 that
evening, the first of two boilers was fired up. Plant workers continued to
fix the second boiler through 10-degree weather and by 02:30, all the
boilers were back in operation.
Fire Chief Russell C. Bowers remained on the scene while the work was being done. As he was walking around, he fell into a hole and fractured his left ankle. He drove himself to St Joseph's Hospital for treatment.
At the time of the fire, the Reading Steam Heat was in the process of
installing a new 800-horsepower boiler that cost between $175,000 and
$200,000. This new boiler was estimated to increase the firm's heat
production by a capacity of 75-percent.
According to the firm's president, Walter Schaeffer, the company presently operated five boilers, the oldest was about 40-years-old and the newest was installed in 1939.
The new boiler, which could supply 99,000 pounds of steam-per-hour, could
do the work of the five boilers. The new boiler was fired by fine
bituminous coal sprayed into the fire pit instead of coal laid on grates, as
the old ones were. It was up and in operation on November 14, 1958.
By 1968, the Reading Steam Heat and Power Company made a decision to
discontinue service to all 188-plus subscribers in center city. Many of the
people were upset by this because they felt it did not give them enough time
to have their buildings switch over to another heating source.
The Public Utility Commission set a date of May 15, 1968 as a deadline for filing protests and on May 31, they announced that no one had protested.
On August 9, 1968, Reading Steam was sold at a sheriff's sale for $10. It was purchased by Bank of Pennsylvania, the Reading Trust Company and the American Bank and Trust Company of Pennsylvania. Almost anyone could have afforded the going price of $10, but with that sale came the judgment set against the industry, a Commonwealth lien of $4,275.74.
Thanks to Historian Tony Miccicke for sending us these stories.