HUMMELS WHARF — A Saturday night fire in a single-family home along the Old Trail in Monroe Township caused extensive smoke damage, but no injuries.
Emergency crews were called to 1253 S. Old Trail shortly after 8 p.m. when a number of people called 911 to report heavy smoke in the area.
John Grove, deputy chief of the Hummels Wharf Fire Department, said firefighters initially had a difficult time finding the source of the blaze because of the thick smoke.
“It was hard to see until we got up close,” he said of the fire. “It was pitch-black inside.”
But once the fire source was pinpointed in the basement of the one-story home, Hummels Wharf employed its new foaming equipment to bring the blaze under control quickly, Grove said.
“Once we found it, we put out the fire with less than 50 gallons of water,” he said.
The compressed-air foam system makes firehoses lighter and easier to handle, and it is four times more effective at extinguishing fires than water alone, Grove said.
“I would say fire damage is relative light, but smoke damage is extensive,” Grove said.
It was difficult to put a dollar amount on the damage, said Grove, who estimated cleanup from the smoke would cost “several thousand dollars.”
Detailed information was not immediately available about the residents of the home. Grove said he thought a family of four or five — parents and two or three children — lived there.
About 25 volunteers from Hummels Wharf, Selinsgrove, Shamokin Dam, Freeburg and Kreamer fire companies responded to the call, as well as an ambulance crew from EMTS. No firefighters were hurt during the incident.
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Craig Urey/For The Daily Item
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