On The Job Pennsylvania: Four-Alarm Fire Heavily Damages Reading Mill Building Under Renovation

March 1, 2015
Millions of dollars in damage to five-story structure and contents

READING FIRE DEPARTMENT

Chief: William Stoudt Jr.

Personnel: 138 career firefighters, firefighter/paramedics and officers

Apparatus: 5 engines, 3 ladders, 1 heavy rescue, 2 chiefs’ cars, 4 ALS medic units, 5 reserve engines, 1 reserve ladder, 1 reserve heavy rescue

Population: 88,000

Area: 10 square miles

On Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, a four-alarm fire heavily damaged a five-story mill building known as “The Reading Outlet Center Building 10” that was being renovated into retail and apartment space. Damage was estimated at $2.5 million to the building and $12.5 million to its contents.

The building was built in 1904 of Type IV, heavy-timber, construction. The flat roof was covered with rubber roofing material. The building contained a total of 114,500 square feet with each floor containing approximately 19,000 square feet. The building was originally built for Curtis, Jones & Co. as a shoe factory. It was undergoing a $14 million renovation with retail space on the first and second floors and apartments on the third through the fifth floors at the time of the fire.

The installation of the automatic sprinkler system (wet) was nearly complete at the time of the fire. The standpipe system (wet) was serviceable with all sectional valves operational and in the open position. The fifth floor was the only floor that did not have its sprinkler protection in place. The sprinkler contractor had the main shutdown at the time of the fire due to the system being incomplete; however, once water was supplied to the fire department connection, the full system would be charged due to the valve orientation. Fire had caused substantial damage to the system, which compromised its full capabilities once water was placed into the system.

An automatic fire alarm system was scheduled to be installed in the building during construction. At the time of the fire, the fire alarm system’s electrical wiring had been extended throughout the building (runs or pulled), but no devices were connected to the system nor did the system have a power supply established.

Initial operations

The Reading Fire Department was dispatched at 2:52 A.M. to a reported structure fire at 8th and Oley streets, Box 09-03. Engines 9, 1, 7 and 3; Ladder 3, a 100-foot aerial ladder; Tower 1, a 75-foot tower ladder; Heavy Rescue 1; Medic 3; First Deputy Chief Gary A. Mogel (Car 2); and Second Deputy Chief Scot Landis (Car 9) responded with 14 firefighters under Mogel’s command.

Command was established on the C side of the structure (Nicolls Street) and Mogel ordered all companies to set up initially outside of what could become a collapse area. First-due Engine 9 and Ladder 3 were positioned at the A/D (northeast) corner of the building in the 700 block of North 8th Street. Heavy fire was visible from at least a dozen windows on the first floor, C side, extending to the second floor. Fire was also showing out of six windows on the first floor, 8th Street, A side of the building.

Engine 9 laid a 200-foot, four-inch supply line from a hydrant on a 20-inch main on 8th Street to a position on the A side of the building at the north end (A/D) corner and placed its deck gun into operation. Ladder 3 was positioned behind Engine 9 and set up for aerial master stream operation. Engine 9 supplied Ladder 3 with a 100-foot, four-inch line for ladder pipe operations. Engine 9 also supplied a 100-foot, four-inch supply line to a step gun located on side A. A 150-foot, 2½-inch attack line and a 200-foot, 1¾-inch attack line from Engine 9 were used to extinguish a 50-by-15-foot, one-story attached garage that was fully involved.

Engine 1 hooked onto a hydrant across the street, out of the collapse zone, on the A side, southeast corner (A/B) of the building. Firefighters stretched a 250-foot, four-inch line to the building’s fire department connection (FDC) and pressurized the building’s automatic sprinkler system. Engine 1’s deck gun was placed into operation and a step gun was located on 8th Street, A side, at the south end of the structure and supplied by a 100-foot, four-inch line.

Engine 3 laid a 200-foot, four-inch line from a hydrant on Oley Street into the rear parking lot (side C) to supply Tower 1 with a 100-foot, four-inch line. Engine 3 also supplied multiple deluge guns on the rear (side C) parking lot and Nicolls Street sides of the building. One deluge gun was supplied by a 2 ½-inch line and one was supplied by a four-inch line. One 2 ½-inch attack line was also supplied by Engine 3.

Engine 7 laid a 400-foot, four-inch line from a hydrant at the intersection of Hewson and Nicolls streets, north of the fire building, and was positioned at the C/D corner of the building on Nicolls Street. Firefighters advanced a 100-foot, four-inch line to the roof of an adjacent garage (side D) to supply a step gun. Another step gun was placed on Nicolls Street at the north end of the building on side C, supplied with a 100-foot, four-inch line. The engine’s deck gun was also placed into operation along with a 100-foot, 2½-inch attack line on C side. Heavy Rescue 1 and Medics 3 and 1 were positioned in the 700 block of Oley Street.

Additional resources

Mogel requested a second alarm at 2:58 A.M. Reading Engine 5; Ladder 1, a 100-foot aerial ladder; and Car 5, First Deputy Chief Thomas Kemery, responded. Mutual aid was also requested at this time. Spring Township Fire Rescue Engine 85, Muhlenberg Township Goodwill Fire Company Engine 10 and Muhlenberg Ambulance 5604 responded.

Reading Ladder 1 was positioned in the rear parking lot of the building and supplied by a 100-foot, four-inch line from Reading Engine 5. Engine 5 was positioned on Oley Street adjacent to the rear parking lot. Spring Township Engine 85 laid 1,300 feet of five-inch line from the 700 block of Oley (C/B) side to a hydrant on a 20-inch water main at the intersection of 6th and Greenwich streets and supplied Reading Engine 5. Goodwill Engine 10 laid a 400-foot, five-inch line from Reading Engine 1, located at 8th and Oley streets, to a hydrant at 9th and Oley streets and pumped to Reading Engine 1.

A special call was made at 3:07 A.M., for Exeter Township Fire Department Tower Ladder 25, a 95-foot tower ladder. Upon arrival, Tower 25 was positioned at the A/B corner of the building and supplied by a 100-foot, four-inch line from Reading Engine 1.

At 3:30 A.M., Mogel requested a third alarm that brought Muhlenberg Goodwill Ladder 10, a 121-foot aerial ladder; Muhlenberg Township Central Fire Company Engine 13; Alsace Manor Fire Company Engine 8; and Reading Second Deputy Chief Kent Born to the scene. Alsace Manor Engine 8 stretched a 400-foot, four-inch line to Reading Engine 7 on the C side. This supply line was laid from a hydrant on a 12-inch water main by Reading Engine 7. Muhlenberg Township Central Fire Company Engine 13 and Muhlenberg Goodwill Ladder 10 were staged in the 800 block of Oley Street.

Mt. Penn Fire Company Ladder 1, a 100-foot aerial ladder, was requested at 3:31 A.M. It was positioned near the C/D corner on Nicolls Street and set up for aerial master stream operations, supplied by a 100-foot, four-inch line from Reading Engine 7.

Mogel requested a fourth alarm at 3:52 A.M. West Reading Fire Company Ladder 64, a 103 foot aerial ladder; Greenfields Fire Company of Bern Township Engine 55; and Reading Reserve Engine 2 and Reserve Rescue 2 responded. Greenfields Engine 55 reverse laid a 700-foot, five-inch line from Alsace Manor Engine 8 at Hewson and Nicolls streets to a hydrant on a 12-inch water main at Nicolls and Spring streets. This boosted Alsace Manor Engine 8’s water supply to Reading Engine 7. West Reading Fire Company Ladder 64 and Reading Reserve Engine 2 and Reserve Rescue 2 were staged on Oley Street and their manpower was assigned to firefighting operations. Mogel requested Exeter Fire Department Heavy Rescue 25 at 5:58 A.M. for a rapid intervention team (RIT) as interior operations were being initiated.

Interior operations

Interior firefighting operations commenced only when the incident commander, Mogel, was satisfied that the forward progress of the fire was slowed and stopped. After a close inspection and evaluation of all floors of the building and their integrity by Fire Marshal Larry Moyer and Lieutenant Jeremy Searfoss, interior firefighting operations were initiated at 6:15 A.M. Interior operations were necessary in order to complete extinguishment of fires in areas on floors one and five that were not accessible with exterior master streams.

With a very diligently coordinated effort and the eight-member RIT company on scene, one crew of eight firefighters was assigned to the fifth floor with two 1¾-inch lines operating off of the interior standpipe in a stairwell. Another eight-member crew with two 1¾-inch lines was assigned to the first floor. These lines were supplied by Engine 9 and off of the east stairwell standpipe, which was supplied by Engine 1.

Under control

Mogel declared the fire under control at 8 A.M. All mutual aid apparatus, except for Exeter Township Tower Ladder 25, were released by 10 A.M. All Reading equipment left the scene at noon, except for Engines 2 and 12 and Reserve Rescue 2. These units were assigned throughout the night to address hot spots.

Eighty firefighters operated nine engines and five aerial devices to extinguish the fire. Five aerial master streams, four deck guns, eight step guns and four handlines were used to control the fire. Over three million gallons of water was supplied by the municipal water system from seven hydrants. Firefighters used 1,200 feet of 1¾-inch attack line; 600 feet of 2½-inch attack line; 2,000 feet of four-inch supply hose and 3,900 feet of five inch-supply hose. No injuries were reported. Weather at the time of the fire was mostly cloudy with calm winds and a temperature of 55 degrees.

“The Reading Fire Department members and assisting mutual aid companies operating at the scene carried out detailed instructions on positioning and tactics, and are to be credited for the success of the fireground outcome,” Mogel said. “The building is salvageable and should be a future taxpayer source. With the amount of fire on the first floor on arrival, it was only because of the firefighters’ exhaustive efforts to stop the fire from spreading to each floor resulting in a complete loss in the end. The biggest challenge I felt was seeing the top floor being charged with smoke through open stairwells and a shaftway in the center and not being able to get enough water on it through deck guns or elevated streams in time to prevent the smoke from lighting off, and essentially sustaining the entire fifth-floor structural members and roof decking with fire.”

The origin and cause of the fire was investigated by the City of Reading Department of Fire and Rescue Services Office of the Fire Marshal; City of Reading Police Department Criminal Investigation Unit; the FBI; and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Response Team. Investigators spent 85½ hours at the scene. The investigation is ongoing at this time. Damage was estimated at $15 million: $2.5 million to the building and $12.5 million to the contents.

LESSONS LEARNED

• Water supply. Mutual aid county engine companies with five inch large diameter supply hose were used to supply additional water to the scene from remote hydrant locations and mains. A handy laminated water map showing hydrant locations and main sizes is priceless, especially if there are multiple exposures where a lack of water pressure to stop the forward progress could be disastrous in an urban setting with row dwellings and overhead power lines. The Reading Fire Department is taking further steps in supplying additional adaptors to surrounding county companies for use when assisting on multiple-alarm fires.

• Officials noted that a water supply officer should have been assigned for the incident. The water map was given to the EMS lieutenant on scene and he coordinated on another radio frequency with the incoming county companies. He was never officially designated the water supply officer and so Engine 9 on 8th Street never received a five-inch line from a county company, which could have easily been facilitated with a reverse lay from their location to a 20-inch main at 8th and Windsor streets.

• Assignment of a staging officer would have helped to better establish usage of resources when command called for them.

• Attention must be paid to the integrity of the structure, falling bricks and overhead power lines during the height of the incident.

Jay K. Bradish

JAY K. BRADISH/IFPA, Firehouse® news editor, is a former captain in the Bradford Township, PA, Fire Department. He has been a volunteer firefighter and fire photographer for more than 25 years.

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