Three firefighters were injured after a car crashed into a Pennsylvania gift shop before exploding and igniting a three-alarm fire early Monday.
The accident happened just before 4:20 a.m. when a car slammed into The Blue and Gray Gift Shop and neighboring building in Gettysburg, the York Daily Record reports. Once they reached the scene, firefighters encountered heavy flames from both buildings.
"I felt the building shake. … It just felt like an earthquake," a resident in an apartment in the neighboring building told the Daily Record.
Crews initially were told that people were trapped inside the buildings, although several apartment residents were able to safely escape the flames. Gettysburg Deputy Fire Chief Joe Temarantz said two firefighters who were headed to work at departments in Cashtown and Anne Arundel County, MD, saved two people on balconies in the rear of one of the buildings.
The driver of the car was killed in the crash, but no other civilians were injured. Temarantz told the Daily Record that three firefighters were given medical attention after suffering injuries during the call.
Crews worked for around four hours to get the flames under control. They then transitioned to searching for hot spots.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
