Staff Writer
Firefighters saved two homes in West Cocalico Township on Tuesday morning, an official said.
Nancy Grebill left her home in the 100 block of Galen Hall Road shortly before 8 a.m. to take children to school, said Jeremy Brubaker, assistant chief of Reinholds Fire Company.
"She found the fire when she came home. (She) ran to a neighbor's house to call 911," he said.
Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting out the back of the home and heavy smoke on both sides of it.
Crews extinguished a blaze in the basement with water, but they found more fire in a first-floor wall after cutting it open with a saw, Brubaker said.
The 2½-story home is part of a 1950s-style duplex, he said. Fire burned through a separating wall enough to cause minimal damage to Jim and Judy Hackman's adjoining home.
About 50 firefighters from Reinholds and surrounding companies put out the fire before it could spread throughout the home, Brubaker said. It was brought under control in about 45 minutes.
"We had to call for extra manpower due to hunting season," he said.
Grebill had cleaned out ashes from a wood stove in her basement Monday morning and put them in a bucket next to the stove, Brubaker said. The accidental fire started at the bucket and spread to a nearby pile of wood, he said.
No one was at home at either of the houses when the fire struck, he said. No one was injured fighting the blaze.
Damage to Grebill's home was estimated at $30,000, with another $10,000 damage done to its contents, Brubaker said. The Hackmans sustained about $10,000 damage to their home.
Brubaker said he did not know if Grebill's home would immediately be habitable.
Copyright 2012 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.All Rights Reserved
