PA Firefighters Injured Battling 3-Alarm Mansion Fire

The cause remained under investigation Tuesday night of a fire that struck a multimillion-dollar home before dawn in Salisbury Township.

Two firefighters were hospitalized with trauma and burns, after they escaped from a second-story window as conditions quickly deteriorated during the fire inside the 3015 Barrington Lane home, said township Fire Marshal Donald Sabo Jr.

He was continuing to investigate the cause of the fire, along with a fire marshal from Bethlehem-based Pennsylvania State Police Troop M.

The six-bedroom, 22-bathroom home at the end of a cul-de-sac just sold Monday for $6.4 million, according to the property’s listing at realtor.com.

Sabo said that as of about 4:30 p.m. he had made contact with the new owners but had yet to speak to them.

“But there was a sale of the house yesterday, so we’re still checking with the title company, with the tax office and the township office to see if the transfer actually did in fact go through,” he said. “But from what it sounds like they are the new owners.”

A neighbor described the buyers as being from New York. An effort by lehighvalleylive.com to reach the buyer, identified by WFMZ-TV 69 as New York City-based investor Bruce Jaeger, was not immediately successful.

Sabo said he understands the new owners hosted a gathering Monday night, but he had yet to confirm that.

A neighbor dialed 911 about 5:55 a.m. to report flames from the back of the house, and township police first on scene confirmed fire through the roof of a castle-like addition on the home, Sabo said. Based on the call, it appeared the fire started toward the rear of that addition, he said.

Firefighters declared the blaze under control at 10:24 a.m. and were able to limit damage to the castle portion and out of the main home, said Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Co. Deputy Chief David Xander. He described the castle portion as three floors in the front and four stories to the rear, with a first-floor ballroom.

While he was headed to the call, he could see smoke from about a half-mile away on Lindbergh Avenue and called in a second alarm, with the response quickly growing to a third alarm.

Along with Western Salisbury fire company and Eastern Salisbury Fire Department, the response drew 10 engine companies, three aerial trucks, six ambulances, trucks to help firefighters recover from their efforts, two trucks for filling air tanks and two teams trained to rapidly get inside an emergency situation. Lehigh County also brought in its unmanned aerial team. All of the responding crews were from within the county, plus Nancy Run Fire Co. in Bethlehem Township.

The two firefighters who were hurt were from South Whitehall Township.

“They’re doing fine,” Xander said about 4:30 p.m. after talking to their chief.

The home was to be boarded up Tuesday night as the investigation continued, Sabo said.