Five residents and a firefighter were taken to Reading Hospital after a three-alarm fire early Monday that damaged three row houses in the 700 block of North 10th Street.
Residents in the block called 9-1-1 about 4 a.m. after they saw thick smoke pouring out of a vacant building at 10th and Oley streets, officials said.
When firefighters arrived, flames where shooting out the back of that building, a former store that still has a faded Schwinn Bicycles sign jutting out above the sidewalk, and the adjoining apartment house at 702 N. 10th St., said Second Deputy Fire Chief William Stoudt Jr.
A male was standing on the ledge of the third floor of the vacant building, waving and yelling to be rescued, Stoudt said. Firefighters used a ladder to help him down to safety.
Meanwhile, other firefighters went into the first floor of the apartment building to search for people who may have been trapped.
While the search-and-rescue operation was going on, other firefighters tried to stop the fire from running the length of the row along the back of the homes.
Stoudt said he ordered a second and third alarm to draw additional manpower, including a reserve unit consisting of off-duty city firefighters and firefighters from the Muhlenberg Township, Mount Penn and Greenfields companies.
County dispatchers placed other suburban fire companies on standby, meaning firefighters responded to their stations to be called if needed. Those firefighters were not needed, officials said.
Crews controlled the fire in about 1 hour and 15 minutes, containing the flames to the three buildings.
"The guys did a fantastic job for what they were up against," Stoudt said.
A city firefighter was taken to Reading Hospital for exhaustion, said Stoudt, who withheld the firefighter's name.
Reading Fire Marshal Todd M. Iaeger said the fire started in the second-floor apartment of 702 N. 10th and spread to units on both sides and to 704, an occupied home.
Iaeger said two children, ages 7 and 17, were alone in the apartment when the fire broke out and were uninjured.
Iaeger was still investigating but said there was nothing to indicate the fire was started intentionally.
According to fire officials:
The 17-year-old alerted the third-floor tenants to the fire. The first-floor apartment was unoccupied.
Everyone was out of the apartment building before firefighters arrived. The woman who lived on the third floor with her four children, including the boy who was rescued from the roof, were taken by ambulance to Reading Hospital. Three were treated for smoke inhalation and two were evaluated.
Their names and medical conditions were unavailable.
A relative of the woman on the third floor said the woman carried her 1-month-old baby down the smoke-filled stairs and out the first floor.
The American Red Cross, Berks County Chapter, is assisting nine tenants, including six children, from the apartment building with food, clothing and temporary lodging.
Javier Anguiano, 57, who has resided for 15 years in the home he owns at 704 N. 10th, said he awoke to the sound of breaking glass and the smell of smoke and noticed the apartment building next door was on fire.
He said his house started to fill with smoke and two male friends with whom he resides got out.
Fire officials said Anguiano and his housemates would not be able to live in the building until repairs are made because the electricity had been turned off.
The rear of 700 and 702 N. 10th sustained heavy damage. A damage estimate was unavailable.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
