Berks 3-alarm blaze destroyed 2 sheds and up to 100 lawn tractors
Jul. 25—Fire crews spared a home and a pair of outbuildings from a raging backyard fire Sunday afternoon that destroyed a pair of sheds and dozens of lawn tractors in Perry Township.
Crews were dispatched for the first of three alarms about 12:15 p.m. for the blaze at 1311 Moselem Springs Road, about 4 miles east of Shoemakersville. The property owners discovered the fire and tried unsuccessfully to extinguish it with a garden hose, Chief Rusty Wagner of Shoemakersville Fire Company said.
By the time the first crew arrived, the building where the fire started was engulfed in flames, he said.
The first priority, the chief said, was evacuating the mobile home, which was still occupied by three of the residents and only 20 feet from the fire. The initial engine crew put water on the home to prevent it from catching on fire until reinforcements arrived to establish a water supply.
Wagner called a second and third alarm as well as activation of a tanker task force to shuttle water to the fire. The additional alarms were needed to provide manpower because firefighters quickly became exhausted with the afternoon temperature in the upper 90s.
The water supply was a constant issue as tanker trucks had to contend with excessive algae at the nearest pond used as the fill site.
No one was injured, but some firefighters needed to be taken into the rehab unit to be treated for heat exhaustion, he said.
A total of about 50 firefighters responded. Some crews remained on the scene for more than five hours.
Along with a pair of 30- by 12-foot buildings, destroyed in the fire were shop equipment used in the family business as well as perhaps 100 lawn tractors, the chief said.
A damage estimate was unavailable.
A state police fire marshal investigated but has not determined a cause.
Wagner said fire officials were told by the property owners that the fire started in an enclosed room in the middle they referred to as the compressor room.
The family was able to return to the home after Met-Ed restored power, Wagner said.
Berks County property records list the owners as John D. and Roma Merkel.
