Massive Blaze Destroys Pa. Home, Vehicles

Three people lost their homes in Tamaqua on Saturday night during an intense fire on Orwigsburg Street.

Smoke and flames were already consuming the building and could be seen from blocks away as fire companies from Tamaqua and outside the borough were dispatched to the blaze at 8:43 p.m.

The cause and determination of the fire remain under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact a Tamaqua fire chief by calling Schuylkill County 911.

A state police fire marshal is expected to investigate today.

Assistant Tamaqua Fire Chief Jim Connely said the fire began at the 129 side, which was occupied by owner Matt Oliver, and spread to the 131 side, occupied by owner Rose Brozyno and her son, Jim Heffelfinger.

Two vehicles parked outside the home during the fire were also destroyed by flames and were extinguished by firefighters before being towed away, Connely said.

Less damage was sustained at a neighboring duplex to the east at 125-127 Orwigsburg St. Firefighters kept the fire contained by spraying water on the duplex to keep it from igniting. Only a narrow breezeway separates both properties.

The 127 side sustained damaged siding and burned off telephone and cable lines which sparked as the fire lapped at them. It and the 125 side both sustained smoke damage.

No firefighters were injured, Connely said. Oliver, he said, sustained a sprained ankle.

Upon arrival, crews were immediately confronted with a large amount of flames engulfing the entire building at 129-131, Connely said.

The intensity of the fire required firefighters to request a “second alarm,” at 8:50 p.m. which dispatched additional fire companies to the area for assistance.

The fire was declared under control at 11 p.m., Connely said, though firefighters remained at the scene until 2:15 a.m.

Sunday, firefighters were back on scene investigating.

Red tape with the word, “DANGER” in bold black lettering was set up around the home while a man boarded up windows with a power tool and plywood around the burned out shell of 129-131 Orwigsburg St. Fire officials said the building will be torn down once the investigation is complete.

Blackened pieces of wood, siding and shingles from the home were collected on the sidewalks in front of the four properties after falling from the residences during the night and being swept on an eastward slope down the sidewalk by hose water.

Inside 125 Orwigsburg St., the smell of smoke filled the home shared by Arlene and Richard Yost and their three grandchildren, ages 15, 12 and 10, along with family pets a day later.

A smoke alarm still chirped inside.

It was that alarm, Arlene said, that helped save the family the night before.

It sounded Saturday night simultaneously alerting 911 of the fire, she said. Arlene looked out the window and saw an orange-red glow coming from the neighbors’ home and before she got to her door to leave, someone was banging at her house yelling frantically to call 911.

Firefighters, she said, arrived not long after.

The Yosts were planning to stay with family until the home was cleared of the smell due to medical concerns.

Thanksgiving, she said, would likely be spent at a relative’s home too.

People had already left clean clothes on her front porch Sunday to help the family out and friends offered to launder clothes for the family in the meantime.

Arlene was thankful to them and was also thankful that her neighbors, especially the Heffelfinger/Brozyno household, made it out of the home safe.

Connely said vinyl siding was damaged by heat from the fire across the street at 124 and 126 Orwigsburg St.

Firefighters not only battled heavy fire and smoke, but wind gusts and parking violations, such as motorists parking too close to intersections, that made navigating the already narrow section of road more difficult, according to first responders.

The American Red Cross was also assisting the fire victims and the Salvation Army supplied water and food to firefighters during the fire.

All four Tamaqua fire companies, Tamaqua Rescue Squad and Tamaqua Emergency Medical Services, responded to the fire along with Coaldale Fire Co., Carbon 14 and 15 Rapid Intervention Teams and Ryan Township Rehabilitation Unit.

[email protected]

———

Visit the Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, Pa.) at standardspeaker.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.