Story/Photos by DENNY CLOPPER

The area of Franklin County in Pennsylvania has been very dry for the past several months and currently under a burn ban for the county. Everyone is wishing for rain to dampen the heat and humidity and just to cool things down a little.

The area of this county began to experience some thunderstorms in the early morning hours of Saturday,August 24th. The 2300 to 0700 shift on duty at the Franklin County 911 center was about to find out what a series of three different thunderstorms is going to create during their shift.

Staffed with five employees up until 0200 hrs then dropping to four until 0700 hrs. Heavy rains came with severe lighting and thunder shortly after midnight bringing your usual dispatches of commercial fire alarms.

Watching the weather channel the dispatchers knew that there was a good second storm approaching and coming very fast. The second storm arrived and nothing out of the ordinary, same as the first, however the third one came shortly and things began to happen. "Rock and Roll" time!

Dispatching the normal alarm bells or as some people say "smells & bells", the Chambersburg Fire Department has a policy to run a single response on their fire alarms in the borough.

Staffed with paid personnel they have four engines,one ladder truck and two ambulances and backed up by the volunteers of the Franklin Fire Company with three engines,one ladder truck and a rescue squad, and can be anywhere in the borough within a two to three minute time limit. This is the way it went during this storm going and coming from one alarm to another, nothing different or unusual.

At 0359 hrs the dispatch was made to 1425 Philadelphia Avenue, Penn Hall Manor at nursing home facility for the ederly and cottage area for the recently retired people. They run this alarm maybe atleast two hundred times per year. The call was dispatched as a commercial fire alarm. One unit is answering the call in the downpour of rain. This one time the senario was going to be completely different.

Upon approach of the first unit they found a working residential cottage apartment fire, with heavy fire showing. The unit reported such and the box was upgraded to a building assignment, sending CO 1 Chambersburg Fire Dept.,Engs. 1-2,1-4,1-1,Truck 1,Amb. 1-8,Sta. 4 Franklin Fire Company Eng. 43 and Truck 42.

Units were laying 5" supply line and pulling preconnect lines,setting up ladder truck operations,and preparing to make an attack on the fire. Rescue was on their minds of people that maybe still inside, due to their age and being a retirement cottage.

The one story brick structure contain two different apartments number 808 and 809. The cottages being so close together,the firefighters began to check the other residents next door at 811,813 and 815.

All escaped without injury but were shocked to see this cottage ablaze. The downpour of rain continued with the severe lighting all around the firefighters as they tried to make an agressive attack, but were halted by a sinking roof on the structure which eventually dropped in that wasn't already consumed by the fire.

Hdq dispatched Air 10 to the scene of the fire and shortly afterwards Asst Chief 1-5 ask Hdq for a second alarm assignment sharing his duties with Asst Chief 1-2 until the arrival of Chief 1 and then command 1 was established.

During this whole process, units were still answering other calls in the area. The second alarm was dispatched at 0407hrs sending CO 8 Marion Squad 8,CO 13 Letterkenny Army Depot Eng. 13-1,CO 18 St. Thomas Eng. 18-1,CO 17 New Franklin Engs 17-1 and 17-2 and Cumberland County CO 53 Cumberland Valley with Truck 53. All assignments were given to units on scene and to the units incoming from second alarm. The fire was finally contained to inside of the brick structure with some hot spots.

Overhaul and salvage operations began with different crews rotating their services,as the R.I.T. team still reamined on standby at the scene. The rain let up a little as the moon began to appear in the night early morning sky, firefighters going back and forth taking a break. A special response was requested at 0425 hrs for additional ambulance to the scene for re-hab sending CO 11 Pleasant Hall Amb. 11-8 and at 0515 hrs additional engine with manpower, Eng. 11-1 from HDQ fire station.

The fire was declared under control by Command 1 and units began to wrap their operations. Command 1 requested the services of the Pa. State Police fire marshall to assist in the cause of the blaze. Unconfirmed reports have the possible cause as a lightning strike to the building. No estimate of damage was given but totally unhabitable.

The residents were moved to another facility by the Nursing Home Retirement staff. Numbers 807 & 809 were completely destroyed and numbers 811,813,and 815 had some smoke damage and very little water damage. Transfer assignments to the borough stations were made during the course of the fire, sending to HDQ Station were CO 15 Squad 15,CO 5 Eng. 5-2,CO 11 Eng. 11-1,Washington County CO 27 Truck 27,Cumberland County units CO 51 Eng. 2-51 and CO 53A Amb. 2-53. To the McKinley Street Station CO 2 Eng. 2-2 and to Sta. 4 CO 3 Eng. 3-2. The last unit to depart the scene was Truck 1 at 0852 hrs.