On Wednesday, December 8, 1901, fire totally destroyed the Wiconisco Tannery, causing a total loss of about $28,000, $10,000 of which was covered by insurance. Lykens firemen were notified of the fire and responded immediately, but due to not having connections for fighting fires in Wiconisco at the time, they were compelled to leave the hose carts in Lykens and join the bucket brigade battle of the flames, which was useless. The cause of the blaze after subsequent investigation was proved beyond a doubt to be from incendiary origin.
Fire alarm sounded at 8 o'clock PM. The company responded to the Stewart property at the corner of Main and Pine Streets. The chimney was found to be blocked.
Companies 22 and 23 were dispatched to the Teter residence on Main Street for a stove fire. Engine 22 responded with a crew of six, and Truck 22 responded with a crew of five. Chief 22, on scene, reported the fire was out and held the box to Company 22, placing Company 23 in service. Upon arrival, a crew checked the stove and confirmed that the fire was out. Chief 22 placed the box in service.
Engine and Tanker 22 responded to a report of a car fire endangering a structure. The engine arrived on scene and found a car under the adjoining car port of a residence, with an engine compartment fire which was out. The resident was refilling oil in the car when it ignited briefly. No damage occurred to residence and limited damage occurred to the car.
Company 22, Engine and Rescue 23, Rescue 21 and Engine 24 along with EMS dispatched class one on the 22-1 box for a report of an attic fire at 542 Main Street in Lykens. Chief 22 went enroute POV and on his arrival had heavy smoke pushing from the top floor of a two and one half story wood frame single family dwelling with an adjacent multi occupancy structure butted up against the D side exposure. Engine 22 responded with 5 and took the A/D corner of the property having come in from the Market Street side, laying in from the hydrant on the square at Main and Market Streets. Truck 22 responded with 5 and approached the scene from the Pine Street side and set up on side A of the structure. Later into the call Utility 22 responded with 1 and staged on Main Street behind the Engine. Engine 23 responded with 4 and laid into the C side of the structure from a hydrant at Pine and South Second Streets. Rescue 23 responded with 4 and staged behind the Truck on Main Street. Engine 24 responded with 4 and on arrival staged in the Mid Penn Bank parking lot and sent their manpower forward. Rescue 21 responded with 7 and on arrival staged on Main Street beside Rescue 23 and sent their manpower forward. Command requested Company 27 dispatched class one to the scene for the RIT assignment. Engine 27 went enroute with 5 and on arrival staged behind Rescue 23 and set up RIT on side A. Crew from 22 went interior from side A through the front door with a two inch attack line while crew from Engine 23 went interior from the rear door on the C side with a hand line. Crew from Truck 22 went to the roof and vented the structure as crews from 22 and 23 knocked down the bulk of the fire on the third floor. Crew from 21 went interior from the D side of the adjoining structure at 540 and 538 Main Street to check for extensions while additional members went to the C side and worked on opening up and looking for extensions. Crews from 22, 23, 24 and 21 began overhaul and salvage of the original fire building. Finding no extension to the adjoining structures command placed the fire under control. All crews worked to complete the overhaul stage including checking the basement and other floors and securing power to the fire building. Command began releasing units as they became available and held the box to company 22 and 24. After wrapping up 5 inch Command placed the box available.
Units on scene:
Engine, Truck, Utility 22
Engine and Rescue 23
Rescue and Utility 21
Engine 24
Engine 27
Medic 6
QRS 24 with Rehab trailer
PSP
Structure assignment dispatched class one to 332 Main Street in Lykens for a reported structure fire, bringing Engine and Truck 22, Engine and Rescue 23, Rescue 21 and Engine 24. Chief 22-1 went enroute POV to the scene. Engine 22 responded with 4, Truck 22 with 4 and Rescue 23 with 4. On arrival of Chief 22-1 at a two story 15 foot by 33 foot duplex wood frame structure nothing was showing from the exterior. Investigation found that they had an oven fire that had been extinguished by the occupant with a fire extinguisher. Command held the box to 22 and 23 with a request to set up ventilation on arrival. Engine 22 arrived side A/B and Truck 22 on side A/D, with Rescue 23 staged at the hydrant at Main and West streets. Interior crews used TICs to confirm that the fire was out and set up PPV at the front door. After ventilating the structure command placed the box available.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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.
