Engine 22 and Rescue 23 dispatched class one on the 22-1 box for an accident with injuries in front of 214 Main Street in Lykens. Chief 22 responded POV to the scene, Engine 22 with 4, and Utility 22 with 2. On arrival, Command placed the Rescue in service. Crews assisted EMS with patient care and scene safety. Units remained on scene until the vehicles were cleared, and then went available.
Truck 22 was dispatched to the Mauser Potato Plant outside of Sacramento, Schuylkill County, for a structure fire. Truck 22 responded with a crew of five and found a large 300 foot by 75 foot metal and concrete manufactured building with fire in the crawl space above the work area and below the roof. The truck was set up on side 2 and a crew went to the roof in the bucket and vented it above the fire. The rest of the crew went interior and assisted crews working on the scene with suppression and overhaul activities. Fire was deep seated in the timbers under the roof, and extinguishment was accomplished through numerous hand lines. The truck crew remained on scene until released by command. Other units on scene included Sacramento, Gratz, Pillow, Hegins, and Valley View.
Engine 22 was dispatched to assist Company 19 with a reported accident with injuries at the Handboard curve on Powells Valley Road in Jefferson Township. Engine 22 responded and found a vehicle that had missed the turn and driven into a drainage culvert. Both occupants were out of the vehicle. The crew assisted with transfer of the patients to transport units, and then went available.
Company 22 was dispatched to the area of the UDA Middle School grounds for a brush fire. Engine 22, Engine 22-1, and Tanker 22 responded to the 21-6 box. All Company 22 units were canceled prior to arrival by Chief 21 on scene.
1985
Accident w/Fatalities, Rt 209 in Big Run (Box 21-6)
An early Saturday morning crash in Big Run (Washington Township) killed three Tower City residents. The accident occurred on Saturday, November 9, 1985, around 1:45 AM on Route-209 west of Lykens. The 1974 Ford Torino was traveling west on Route-209 at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle, which slid for 254 feet along the roadway's north berm, struck a PP&L pole, slid another 114 feet, struck a second pole, traveled for 135 more feet, hit a third utility pole, and came to rest on its roof where it burst into flames. Company-22 (Lykens) and Company-21 (Elizabethville) responded to the scene. All three occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. Elizabethville's Tom Welker recalls:It was Elizabethville's third call in a row that night. Our first call was directly below my house on Main Street, where a DUI driver had hit a couple of parked cars and a porch. While there, we were dispatched to a working fire in Powells Valley at the east end of the Back Road. I was in the officers seat of our old rescue that night and while going down the Fisherville side of Eville Mountain, County asked if we could split for an accident. I instructed the driver to pull into the Mountain House parking lot and we let our tanker go past. As we turned around to go back toward town, County began advising that the vehicle was on fire. One of our crew members, who lived in Loyalton, arrived on scene soon after and radioed back to his wife on the CB radio that we had a working fire that looked close to a house. In the meantime I had the rescue stop at our station (it was still on Market Street) and I hopped out to get our 64 Hahn. While enroute with it and receiving all this additional information, I called for company 22 and 26 engines to respond. When I arrived on scene with the Hahn, another guy took over the pump panel and we knocked the fire down pretty quickly. As I looked up the road I could not believe it. There were three or four poles down and wires everywhere. It looked like a bomb went off. I forget how fast the estimated speed was but they flipped the car end for end several hundred feet before coming to rest. When the 22 engine arrived, they hand stretched a backup line 400 feet. It was my first major incident ever as an Assistant Chief and one to remember always.
Fire destroyed Hoffman?s St. Peters United Church of Christ located between Pillow and Loyalton. Loss was $60,000.00. Firemen were hampered by a lack of water and booster tanks had to be filled at Troutman?s Dam, a half mile from the scene. Firemen were on the scene several hours. The Gratz Fire Company was assisted by the Valley View Fire Company, Hegins Fire Company, Liberty Hose Company No. 2 of Lykens, Berrysburg and Community Fire Company, Reliance Hose Company No. 1 of Elizabethville, Millersburg Fire Company, Halifax and Community Fire Company, Fisherville Fire Company, Duncannon Fire Company and Pine Grove Fire Company. Elizabethville's Tom Welker remembers:It was a Friday evening and I was at the movies with my parents, at the Budd Theatre in Lykens. My Dad was Lykens' Assistant Engineer at the time. Most pumpers in the area were limited to 250 to 300 gallon tanks with 30 gallon per minute booster lines as the first off line in rural areas. That's not much of a challenge for a working Church fire. Gratz would have had a 1940's era Ford open cab pumper, Elizabethville: a 1934 Studebaker, Lykens: a 1941 International, Fisherville had their Federal pumper, Millersburg: the 1940's era International, Hegins had a Square tank tanker on a Studebaker chassis that was fabricated by Swabs. I remember the next day my Dad took us for a ride to see it. It was a smoking hole in the ground. A new Church was built directly across the street from the one that burned.
Fire broke out in the barn of Clayton Miller, in West Williamstown, on Sunday morning, November 9, 1924. The fire was discovered around 5:16 a.m. by Mrs. Phoebe Clouser, who spread the alarm and was instrumental in getting the Williamstown fire company to the scene. After desperate fighting, the Williamstown fire company was successful in confining the flames to the structure, but because of a high westerly wind, embers were being carried more than 150 yards where buildings were set afire and the dry grass of the Fairview Cemetery, 300 yards away, was ignited. After great danger was seen, in which fourteen homes and barns were threatened, a call was sent to Lykens and Wiconisco for help. The fire companies answered immediately, with Lykens leaving the firehouse around 6 a.m., and Wiconisco following closely after. The area of the fire, which was closely built up, was without fire protection, the only available means was garden hose, which was used to battle the flames. The Lykens and Wiconisco fire companies would have been able to pump water from the Wiconisco Creek if the emergency had required this service. But, it was found upon their arrival that the fire was under control and they stood by in readiness for action. The strong west wind, which fanned the blaze, saved the dwellings of Charles Machamer, William Clouser, Mrs. William Hawk, Elmer Kissinger, Clayton Miller, Mrs. Mary Rubenstall, and James C. Miller. These residences were within fifty feet of the large 20 foot by 80 foot barn that was a mass of flames. None of these places were afire, but were guarded by many who had formed a bucket brigade. Directly west of the burning structure were the homes of Ira Clouser and Mrs. Phoebe Clouser, William Fromme, Mrs. Edward Williams, Ira Wren, and Mark Machamer. Their homes were afire a number of times, but dilligent guard kept by a bucket brigade saved these dwellings each time they burst into flames. The barn and corn shocks on the farm of Paul Mehalko were afire. This place was located about 150 yards west of the Miller Barn. In the blaze, Clayton Miller lost a number of vehicles, two tons of hay, and a quantity of wheat. Ira Wren and William Wentzel, who kept their autos in the bottom part of the bank barn, each lost their cars. Wren had a Ford, while Wentzel owned an Oakland.
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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