A firefighter was seriously injured and the Mount Carbon fire station burned after an adjacent vacant house caught fire and spread early Friday morning.
According to news reports, the Mt. Carbon Fire Department’s station was heavily damaged and a firefighter was shocked when the boom aerial he was using touched overhead electric lines, throwing him to the ground. He was taken to the hospital where he was reportedly in serious condition.
The newspaper, Republican Herald reported the a fast moving fire destroyed two homes and then spread to the Mount Carbon Fire Company headquarters after 4 a.m. Friday. The fire was initially reported in the vacant half of a duplex at 118 Main Street and spread to the occupied half and to the station at 122 Main Street.
The firefighters were able to get apparatus out of the station before flames virtually destroyed the station, according to the newspaper.
Local television station WBRE-TV recorded an interview with Mount Carbon Fire Chief Mark Ebling who said First Assistant Joe Moore was operating an aerial device when it came in contact with the high voltage line, transmitting electricity to the pump panel and shocking him. Moore was taken to the hospital where he was listed in serious condition.
The fire station, which also housed a banquet hall, is being considered a total loss.
Firehouse.com News will provide more information as it becomes available.
