The home of superintendent and Mrs. E.A. Van Horn was greatly endangered for a while on Sunday morning, March 1, 1925, when fire was discovered on the third floor of the building. The family detected an odor of burning wood. Upon investigation, the fire was discovered by Robert, the youngest son of the family. supperintendent Van Horn, Lloyd Uhler, and Harry Davis battled the flames with chemicals, and had the fire extinguished upon the arrival of the Lykens and Wiconisco fire companies. The cause was undetermined. The loss included a sewing machine and motor, a couch, about a dozen feather pillows, several pairs of expensive curtains, rugs, and slight damage to the woodwork.
Company 22, Engine 23, Rescue 21, and EMS were dispatched to the Shell gas station and mini-mart at 25 Main Street for an odor of something burning. Engine 22 responded with a crew of six, Truck 22 responded with a crew of seven, and Chief 22 went to the scene POV. Engine 23 responded with a crew of five and Rescue 21 responded with a crew of six. Upon response of the Chief, he was advised from County of a second call reporting a slight haze in the building. Engine 23 arrived on side A/B, followed by Engine 22 on side A. Truck 22 took side A/D. Investigation found that a belt on a furnace motor had burned up in a room off the B side of the structure. The unit was shut down, and command put the box in service.
2013
Smoke in a Structure, 528 Arlington Street (Box 22-1)
Local alarm dispatched class one on the 22-1 box for a report of smoke in a structure located at 528 Arlington Street in Lykens. Engine 22 responded with 4, Utility 22 with one, and Chief 22 POV. Engines 23, 24 and Rescue 21 as well as Medic 6 also on the box. Chief 22 arrived on scene with heavy black smoke coming from the chimney. A person checking out the house had entered and found smoke inside coming from the basement. Engine 22 arrived on scene side A and sent three air pack crew inside, and found the furnace malfunctioning and shut it down. Command held the box to Company 22. The crew then took CO readings and vented the property. After the smoke was cleared a CO readings were 0, command placed the box available.
Truck 22 dispatched class one on the 21-1 box to 245 Greenfield Estates for a reported stove fire in a kitchen of one unit of a multi family apartment building. When Engine 21 arrived on scene they reported a working fire. Truck 22 responded with 7 and Engine 22 with 5. On arrival of Truck 22 they staged at the entrance to the apartment complex as Command 21 reported the fire knocked. Both Truck and Engine 22 were placed in service by Command 21.
2023
Smoke investigation inside, 640 South 2nd St (Box 22-1)
Company 22 dispatched class one to 640 South Second Street in Lykens at Dracool Manufacturing for a smoke investigation inside. Engine 22 responded with 3, Truck 22 with 3, and Chief 22-2 POV. On arrival at a 50 by 100 foot 2 story metal frame manufacturing facility the Engine took side A/B and the Truck took side A/D with nothing evident from the outside. The staff came out to meet the crew and advised that earlier this morning they had a furnace issue and had shut it down and were awaiting a repairman to arrive. After completing an interior investigation and finding nothing the box was placed in service.
Liberty Hose Company No. 1, of Williamstown, took delivery of a new Hahn fire pumper on March 1, 1973. The custom pumper had a 1,000 gallon per minute pump, a 500 gallon tank, a GE priority channel radio, and a CB radio. Among the equipment onboard was a portable pump, a 2500 watt generator, and a smoke ejector.
1977
Porter Tunnel Mine Accident - Porter Twp, Schuylkill Co, PA
At approximately 11:50 a.m., on March 1, 1977, an inrush of water occurred in a section of the Porter Tunnel Mine, east of Tower City, in Porter Township, Schuylkill County, trapping miners inside. The water had come from a breach of an old bootleg mine. Nine miners working in the area of the accident escaped. Sixty-five miners in other parts of the mine also escaped. But there were ten miners trapped inside. Rescue efforts began immediately. On March 2nd, shortly after midnight, the body of a deceased miner was found. Another one was found around 5 a.m. Then a tapping sound was heard, leading to the discovery of trapped miner, Ronald Adley. Work began on his rescue as other search and rescue efforts continued. Adley was not freed until 8:05 a.m. on March 6th. Than that same day, at 9:30 a.m another body was recovered and another one was sighted. It took until 4:30 p.m. to recover that other body. Work continued, and at 8:20 p.m. on March 28th, three more bodies were found. The last two bodies were not found until 12:38 a.m. on March 30th. The deceased miners (alphabetical) were: Gary Lee Ginger, Mark Groh, Timothy Grose, Ronald Herb, Dennis Morgan, John Moyer, Ralph Renninger, Philip Sabatino, and Donald Schoffler.
At 9 p.m. on March 1, 1881, a fire broke out in the dome of the Minnesota state capitol building. Both houses of legislature were in session and a large crowd of spectators was in attendance at the time. Many people had engaged in saving the books, pictures, papers, movable furniture, etc. in the main library room. The items were carried out to places of safety. The building was evacuated, and as the last person made his escape, the ceiling fell. Within about two hours, the building was completely destroyed, together with much of its contents.
On March 1, 1990, sparks from a clay bread oven ignited an outdoor tent in Cairo, Egypt. The uncontrolled flames spread quickly to the six-story 630-room Heliopolis Sheraton Hotel next door. Seventeen people died in the fire, including four Americans. Identification of the victims was delayed because the hotel records were destroyed in the fire. Prior to the fire, Sheraton had decided that all hotels worldwide that bore its name would be brought up to certain standards of fire safety beyond local ordinances. The standards required sprinklers in guest rooms, alarms, smoke and heat detectors, and certain types of construction. The owner of the Heliopolis Sheraton had agreed to the standards and had made a design study of the installation of sprinklers for all guest rooms.
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