Wysox, Pa. Fire Hall Destroyed, Apparatus Saved in Blaze

WYSOX, Pa -- A fire early Saturday destroyed the Wysox Fire Hall and a storage shed.

The hall included a large dining room, kitchen and a downstairs garage.

Firefighters managed to save the four fire trucks that were stored in the garage, as well as some other firefighting equipment, Wysox Fire Chief Jim Mechling said.

The fire trucks were not damaged, he said. The hall, which is located on Lake Hill Road, was the Wysox Township polling place and a site where many public meetings and wedding receptions had been conducted over the years, said Doug McLinko, chairman of the Wysox Township supervisors.

"The building was a part of Wysox and the community," McLinko said. "We'll do whatever it takes to help them rebuild it."

The fire company used the kitchen to prepare food for fund-raising events held at the hall, Mechling said.

Seventy-five percent of the funds needed to run the fire company were raised from events held in the fire hall, or through rentals of the hall, Mechling said. Numerous tables and chairs, an emergency generator, and some firefighting equipment were destroyed in the fire, he said.

However, the damage caused by the fire will not hamper the ability of the Wysox Fire Company to fight fires or to respond to other emergencies, Mechling said.

"We will still protect our community, as we did before," he said. The fire company will still provide the same coverage and service as it did before, Wysox fire officials said.

Fire companies from all over the state, as well as the state fire commissioner, have responded to the fire by offering vehicles and equipment to the Wysox Fire Company, Mechling said. "But we don't need it," Mechling said.

The fire trucks that had been stored in the garage are being stored at other area fire stations and township buildings, he said.

Mechling said the cause of the fire has not been yet determined. The fire, which was reported at approximately 4 a.m., may have been caused by an electrical malfunction, he said.

State Police Fire Marshal Timothy Young said that the fire started in the storage shed. The fire then spread to a breezeway that connects the storage shed to the fire hall, and later spread to the fire hall, he said.

At this point, it appears that the fire started accidentally, Mechling said.

The cause of the fire "doesn't look suspicious to us," Young said. "We're suspecting it was (an) electrical (problem)."

Four firefighters and fire police received minor injuries while fighting the fire, Mechling said. Three were injured when they slipped on ice, and a fire policeman was injured when his foot was run over by a pickup truck, he said.

The fire policeman who suffered the foot injury "is fine," Mechling said Saturday afternoon. The injured were taken to Memorial Hospital to be evaluated.

"They all seem to be fine," Mechling said, adding that they had all been released from the hospital. U.S. Route 6 had to be shut down for three hours so that firefighters could run hoses across the highway, to carry water from the Susquehanna River to the fire scene, he said.

Some 100 firefighters from 15 different fire companies battled the blaze, Mechling said. Firefighters from as far away as Meshoppen and Barton, N.Y., helped extinguish the fire, he said. Mechling said that firefighters arrived on scene within minutes after the fire was reported.

When firefighters first arrived on scene, both buildings were almost engulfed in flames, he said. For a short time, firefighters could not apply as much water to the social hall as they needed to because the electricity was still on in the building and there was a risk that firefighters could be electrocuted, Mechling said.

However, the fire soon caused the electrical service in the building to shut down, and firefighters were then able to then apply as much water as they needed to, he said.

Mechling said the fire company has insurance on both buildings, as well as on the lost equipment. Mechling said the fire hall needs to be rebuilt "because we need it to protect our community" and as a fund-raising source.

While the fire hall's garage is still standing, it is structurally unsound and must be torn down, Mechling said.

Mechling said he did not have an estimate on the financial loss to the fire company, which owns both buildings.

With the wind-chill factor taken into consideration, firefighters had to battle the blaze in sub-zero conditions, Mechling said.

The Wysox Fire Company serves Wysox, Asylum and Standing Stone townships.