A Port Carbon firefighter was injured when he was hit in the face by a hose while battling a three-alarm blaze yesterday morning, according to The Republican Herald.
Firefighter Larry Dawson was using an inch-and-a-half hose line at the rear of a group of burning houses when he slipped on the ice, causing it to hit him in the face, Pottsville Fire Chief Todd March told the newspaper.
Dawson was transported to Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street with a laceration to his left eye.
Seventeen people were left homeless after a kitchen fire ignited the row of homes at shortly after 3 a.m. on the 400 block of Fairview Street in Pottsville.
March said after working at the scene for five minutes, power lines began to snap, came down live and were sparking in the street. That, coupled with temperatures in the teens, made it difficult for firefighters to battle the fire.
The fire was under control by 5 a.m.
A resident inside the home at the time of the fire was treated at the scene for a burn on her hand.
The cause has been determined to be a grease fire in the home's kitchen and has been ruled accidental.
