YORK, Pa. --
A fire devastated an entire block of row homes in York Wednesday afternoon, ripping through one after another until 12 homes and 25 apartments were destroyed.
"If this happens once in an eternity, it's too often," said York Fire Chief John Senft. "I can't tell you the last time we had a fire of this magnitude."
The Red Cross is helping more than 50 residents who lost their homes along the 700 block of Chestnut Street.
The fire started around 3 p.m. and spread quickly, most likely because there were no firewalls in the row homes, according to Senft.
Nearly 30 departments from York County responded to the blaze.
"We have multiple resources called," said Senft. "We have brought in resources from out of the county as well as we called off-duty personnel."
Senft said there were no serious injuries to any firefighters or residents.
Fire victim Patricia Sanchez said she smelled smoke then heard the alarm. She said when she looked outside, she could already see smoke coming out from under the roof.
"We got out, started knocking on doors and called 911," she said. "As far as I know, everybody on the block got out."
Sanchez also saved her cat, Mr. Mittens, but said he had burned his nose and paws.
Officials have not commented on a cause of the fire.
Explosions could be heard as the fire raged.
Scrapyard Fire
Another York fire happened Wednesday at Consolidated Scrap Resources in the 600 block of East Princess Street, about a mile away from the row homes fire. It started just after 2 p.m.
The company's president told News 8 that the blaze started in a pile of scrap, which the company recycles.
Smoke billowed out of the scrapyard for hours and could be seen for miles.
There is no word on what caused the fire. Investigators are looking into it.
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