Lancaster County firefighters operated at a 2 alarm dwelling fire on Tuesday, February 25th in East Hempfield Township, approximately 10 miles west of Lancaster City.
The fire almost turned tragic when a live electrical service feed line burned off the side of the home and became entangled in a firefighter.
Units were dispatched shortly after 9:30 AM to the single family dwelling just blocks from Hempfield High School. Numerous calls to the Lancaster County dispatchers from both neighbors and school personnel alerted them to the alarm.
First arriving police officers confirmed that a working fire existed and that the dwelling was clear.
Hempfield Fire Department Deputy Chief Adam Soders arrived on the first engine company, assummed Command, and upgraded to a second alarm response. Fire already had heavy possesion of the attic and was spreading.
The initial truck crews from Fire Department Mount Joy (FDMJ) did an interior search and confirmed the heavy fire above the ceiling and smoke throughout the structure.
While crews were advancing a 2.5" hoseline on the front lawn, one of the firefighters inadvertently walked near the path of the fallen electric utility service drop line. The charged 220 volt line became lodged between his SCBA cylinder and turnout coat, as he manuvered the hoseline on the front lawn.
Eventually it was pulled down from a tree branch, and the exposed broken ends began arcing on the snow, just feet from the firefighters gathered for the attack. Luckily, nobody was injured and the area was cordoned off.
By this time fire had burned and collapsed a significant portion of the roof, and Command changed the attack to a defensive mode. Lancaster Counties newly developed evacuation tone was sounded by County Communications as all crews exited the building.
An exterior aerial attack from FDMJ Truck 7-5 put a knock on the fire and crews returned inside for extensive salvage and overhaul.
The fire is currently under investigation but is not considered suspicious. The area still had almost 2 feet of snow on the ground from a previous storm and that significantly slowed personnel working on the fireground.
