Operations & Training

PA Crews Keep Blaze from Spreading Through 12-Home Block

Nov. 24, 2020

"They (firefighters) did a great job containing it to basically one house. It had the potential to take out the block," said Pottsville's fire chief about the two-alarm residential blaze that injured a man.

By Frank Andruscavage

Source Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.

Pottsville, PA, firefighters contained a two-alarm blaze to a single home and kept flames spreading through the 12-house block Monday.

POTTSVILLE, PA—One man was flown to a burn center for injuries he suffered when fire broke out in his home in the city Monday morning.

Pottsville firefighters were called to 914 W. Race St. just before 10 a.m. and found flames shooting from the windows of 914 W. Race St. into the street. He said one man living in the house suffered burns to his arms, feet and hands. He was treated by Schuylkill EMS and then flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Allentown, for additional treatment, the chief said.

Pottsville Fire Chief James Misstishin said the fire could have spread through the 12-home block. Firefighters worked quickly and had most of the blaze under control in 15 minutes, keeping most of the fire damage to the house where it started.

Adjoining homes at 916 and 912 sustained some fire and smoke damage. Misstishin said three people lived in the house where the fire started, one person resided in 912 W. Race St. and the home at 916 W. Race St. was unoccupied.

Misstishin said a home at 910 W. Race St. sustained minor smoke damage, but the woman living there will be able to continue to do so. The homes at 912 and 914 sustained extensive damage and are not livable, he said.

The chief said the four people homeless from 912 and 914 W. Race St., as well as the resident of 910 W. Race St., are being assisted with food, clothing and shelter by the American Red Cross Tri-County Chapter.

The cause of the fire has been determined to be accidental.

Misstishin commended the work of firefighters who responded for keeping the blaze from spreading to the remainder of the block.

"They (firefighters) did a great job containing it to basically one house," he said. "It had the potential to take out the block."

Misstishin said he called for a second alarm during the early stages of the fire and had responding company's stage at Humane Fire Company on Laurel Boulevard.

"I called the second alarm to cover the city in case something happened," he said.

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