Low Water Pressure Hampered Coopersburg, PA, Firefighters
The Morning Call
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A historic building in Coopersburg that housed a strip club was destroyed by a massive fire Monday morning, officials said. The cause is under investigation.
It was the second time in two weeks crews responded to a fire at the building at 111 E. Station Ave., which is the address for Silhouettes Show Bar, a strip club.
Coopersburg fire Chief Dave Huber said the remains of the historic 1856 building were likely to be razed immediately, after the state police fire marshal and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives finish their investigation. Lehigh County detectives are also part of the probe.
Photos posted on social media showed firefighters spraying the building while smoke poured out of the top floor of the building. Other photos showed the roof of the building had collapsed.
Joanie Flick, who lives three doors west of the fire scene, said the fire grew quickly. When she looked out at midnight, “there was fire in every window.”
Flick said investigators after the last fire asked if she had any surveillance video from a doorbell or camera.
Huber said police officers on the scene within minutes of a 12:03 a.m. 911 call said flames were coming out of all floors on the front and sides of the three-story building.
Huber said 75 to 100 firefighters from area departments responded. Trumbauersville Fire Company, one of the fire companies that responded to the scene, said companies from Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks and Montgomery counties assisted at the scene for multiple hours.
Because the water pressure from a nearby hydrant was insufficient for the amount of water needed, 10 tanker trucks were dispatched. They shuttled water from two filling sites near Route 309.
Though the building had been vacant since the blaze two weeks ago, firefighters briefly entered to make sure no one was inside. They were forced to retreat almost immediately because it was clear the structure was starting to collapse, Huber said. When it did, the inside of the building pancaked down to the first floor.
The fire caused live electrical wires to fall onto the street, posing another hazard, the chief said. He added that the explosive popping sounds some neighbors reported likely came from the wires and not from inside.
The fire was declared under control around 3 a.m.
The building, originally called The Baldwin House, had 12 rooms that were rented weekly. All but one were occupied before the last fire, Huber said.
In a post on its Facebook page, the Coopersburg Historical Society lamented the loss of the structure.
“Last night and early this morning, a piece of Coopersburg history was lost,” the historical society wrote in its post.
The building was built as a hotel soon after the railroad lines were laid outside of Coopersburg in 1856, according to the historical society.
The results of the investigations will be announced by police, Huber said.
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