Feb. 16--A two-alarm fire that officials termed "challenging" forced nine people from their homes and left two firefighters injured on a frigid, blustery Saturday on a snow-choked street in Lebanon.
City firefighters were dispatched to a home at 25 Guilford St. at 2:41 p.m. When they arrived, they found smoke and flames pouring out of the home and the blaze spreading to neighboring 23 Guilford St. and adjoining 27 Guilford St. None of the occupants of the three homes was injured.
"It was well-advanced," Lebanon Fire Commissioner Duane Trautman said.
The blaze started on the first floor of 25 Guilford St., he said, setting a preliminary damage estimate of $225,000. A cause was not determined, and fire officials expected to continue their investigation Sunday.
As firefighters battled the flames, the floor collapsed in a second-story room of 25 Guilford St. Two firefighters from Myerstown's Keystone Hook & Ladder Fire Co. inside the room fell to the first floor, Trautman said. One was treated for a leg injury at the scene, and the other was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment of breathing problems.
After the collapse, the fire commissioner ordered all firefighters out of the three homes, and a city fire truck sounded its siren to alert firefighters.
Tracy McLaughlin, who had lived at 25 Guilford St. for 25 years, said he was out of town when his son, Brendon, called him.
"I just got a call that my house was fire," McLaughlin said as he stood across the street watching the firefighters.
He said five people lived in the home, along with two dogs and a cat. Firefighters rescued the dogs, but the cat was unaccounted for Saturday afternoon.
Joseph Pesta of 26 Guilford St. was shoveling snow when a woman and a man came out of 25 Guilford St. screaming and yelling to call 9-1-1.
"Within a minute and a half, it was so bad it popped the siding off the porch," Pesta said.
After calling 9-1-1, he said, he ran down to Guilford Street and North Lincoln Avenue to direct traffic.
"When I came out, the flames were jumping out to the street," added Barb Kohr, who lives across the street at 30 Guilford St. "You could see the fire jump (to 23 Guilford St.)."
A neighbor, Nancy Potteiger, who also lives at 30 Guilford St., called Kohr after Potteiger smelled smoke, looked outside and saw the flames across the street.
Kohr said the fire brought back memories of the day her home on Walnut Street near Heritage Heights caught fire in the 1990s.
Louis Barbini, who lives at 23 Guilford St., said the fire started in the kitchen at 25 Guilford St. and spread to his home.
"It was pretty fast-moving," he said. "They said it was electrical."
Barbini and his mother, Ruth, said they would not be able to stay in their home Saturday night because of the fire and smoke damage.
"We'll get through this," his mother said.
Ruth Barbini said they were able to rescue two dogs and a number of cats from their home.
Up to 11 cats were in the three homes, Trautman said. It was undetermined how many escaped the flames.
"It was a very challenging incident," the fire commissioner said.
He said firefighters were hampered by the piles of snow along narrow Guilford Street. A number fire trucks were parked along North Lincoln Avenue.
Trautman declared the second alarm for firefighters and equipment.
Assisting city fire crews were firefighters from Myerstown's Goodwill and Keystone Hook & Ladder, Weavertown, Rural Security, Ebenezer, Glenn Lebanon, Annville-Cleona Fire District and Bellegrove fire companies. First Aid and Safety Patrol and fire police were also at the scene.
The American Red Cross assisted those displaced by the fire.
Red Cross volunteers are assisting four families who were displaced by the fire, according to a Red Cross news release, aiding the families with food, clothing and shelter and will follow up to determine any additional disaster needs.
Lebanon Valley residents may assist these families, and others displaced by disasters, by making a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief, the release states. Contributions may be sent to the American Red Cross, 430 W. Orange St., Lancaster, PA 17603, or any local Red Cross office.
For more information, call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcross.org.
Copyright 2014 - Lebanon Daily News, Pa.
