An early morning fire in the home of Eugene Klinger and his sister, Joyce Klinger, in Wiconisco brought Wiconisco, Lykens, and Williamstown fire companies. The fire started at 4:15AM in the first floor living room. Three people died in the fire and the house was a total loss. The bodies of Eugene Klinger, age 24, his half-brother Larry Walper, age 11, and Robert Klinger, age 15 months, were found on the second floor.
Company-22 was dispatched to 462 North Street for a basement fire. Engine-22 arrived on side-1/4 and pulled a line to the basement. Truck-22 had initially set up on side-1/2, but repositioned to side-2. Engine-23 pulled in behind the Truck-22 and pulled a second line which was never charged. Engine-24 stood by at the hydrant at North Second and Pine Streets, and their crew was utilized as RIT. EMS staged on Pine Street. The house was full of smoke all the way to the attic. The first-in attack crew found the seat of the fire in a corner of the basement and found it was traveling up through several voids to the first floor. The fire was held to the corner of the basement, with heat and smoke up the basement stairway. Probably less than 20 gallons of water was used on the fire. PPV was used to clear the house and further checks for extension were negative.
At the request of Chief 22-1 on scene, Company 22 dispatched class 1 to 553 Main Street in Lykens for a CO Alarm. Truck 22 responded with 4 and Engine 22 responded with 2. The Truck arrived on side A with the Engine behind them. Initial readings with the CO meter showed moderate levels, and ventilation was set up to air out the house. The furnace pipe was removed and a crew laddered the building as well as the bucket sent to the roof to check the chimney, which was found to be clear. After levels dropped to safe levels, the crew was placed available by command.
Truck 22 dispatched class one to 44 South Market Street in Elizabethville at Swab Wagon Company for an automatic fire alarm. Chief 21-2 placed the box in service as a false trip before any response.
Company 22 dispatched class one on the 23-1 box to 204 Wiconisco Street in Wiconisco Township for a reported structure fire. Chief 23 arrived on scene and confirmed that it was a controlled burn and placed the box in service before any response.
Company 22 dispatched class one to the Rattling Creek Apartments at 15 South Second Street in Lykens for an automatic fire alarm. Chief 22-1 who lives across the street responded POV to the scene and Engine 22 went enroute with 3. An update by the Comm center reported that there was now a burn victim and smoke on the second floor. The box was upgraded to a structure fire response adding companies 23, 24, 21 and EMS. Medic 6 arrived on scene and had a victim outside the building and reported that the building was being evacuated. Engine 22 arrived on side D of a 132 foot by 63 foot 4 story multi family housing unit with nothing showing from the exterior and occupants streaming out the side A main entrance and exit. Initial reports were that the smoke was mainly on the second floor. Chief 22-1 located the apartment of origin and a crew from Engine 23 made entry and found that there was a fire in the bathroom of one unit which was now out. Additional personnel from 21 and 24 arrived on scene and brought fans to the second floor where ventilation was started. After clearing the smoke from the second floor and checking all the remaining apartments for any residual smoke the occupants were allowed to return to their rooms and come in out of the -4 degree outside temperature. After re setting the alarm system and confirming that the building was clear command placed the box in service and all companies returned.
Truck 22 dispatched class one to 1067 Creek Road in Hubley Township Schuylkill County for a structure fire. Truck 22 responded with 5 and was canceled while enroute.
Engine 22 dispatched class one as next due Engine on the 24-1 box to 146 East Market Street in Williamstown for an automatic fire alarm. Chief 24-1 placed the box in service prior to response, faulty battery in a detector.
Companies 22, 23, 21, 24, 27 and Medic 6 dispatched class one to the area of North and Wall streets for a possible structure fire. Chief 22 who lives around the corner got on scene and reported the incident as actually a pole fire and held it to Company 22. Engine 22 responded with 6 and Utility 22 with 2. Engine 22 arrived and took a blocking position at Market and North streets. Utility 22 arrived and set up a blocking position at North and Spruce streets. The pole number 50 feet east of the pole on fire was called in and PPL was notified. Upon their arrival they extinguished the transformer fire as well as the fiber phone lines that were burning. Company 22 then went available.
At 8:30 a.m. on January 22, 1953, a Greyhound bus was en route to Sunbury via Route 147. The bus' air brake mechanism caught fire, and the bus stopped just north of Herndon. The Herndon Fire Company responded and used chemicals to extinguish the fire. Two fire companies from Sunbury were called, however they weren't needed. The bus was delayed for about 25 minutes, but was able to continue on its way under its own power.
The section of calls we've responded to has been compiled from fire company records, newspapers, and other sources. Listings for years prior to 1981 might be incomplete.
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The listing of local incidents is for incidents that happened around our local area, including some from Lykens for which the fire company was not dispatched. It is certainly not a complete listing, and is not intended to be. It is included here for your entertainment. Incidents listed here have been gathered from public sources.
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The listing of other noteworthy incidents includes incidents from anywhere outside our local area (for which we were not dispatched). Also included in this section are historical events from our fire company, Lykens, or around the world. It is certainly not a complete listing, and is not intended to be. It is included here for your entertainment. Incidents and events listed here have been gathered from public sources.
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These lists can be filtered. Use the control section above to activate or de-activate filtering. Filtering will not affect the list of incidents we've responded to. But, it will be applied to both the other lists.
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