YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, FIREFIGHTERS WERE HARD-PRESSED Wednesday afternoon as two major fires broke out less than an hour apart. The first was a fire at a scrap yard that immediately tied up several of the city’s fire companies. Just before 3 pm another alarm was sounded for a rowhouse fire downtown that quickly grew to 5 alarms.
York Daily Record / Kate Penn photo
That fire started in the center of the block in the roof area and spread so rapidly that within 10 minutes all 15 houses on the block were involved in the fire. The York Daily Record tells us:
York City Fire/Rescue Services Chief John Senft said that, just before 3 p.m., the first firefighter arrived on the scene in the 700 block of Chestnut Street and found at least three homes in the middle of the 15-home block engulfed in flames. The flames spread rapidly, he said.
“It just ran in both directions,” Senft said. “Every structure in that block is affected somehow.”
Senft said three firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the fire, including contusions and abrasions. He knew of no residents who suffered injuries.
The row-home fire – which stretched from 701 to 731 Chestnut Street – was called under control at 6:33 p.m. Senft said the entire fire might carry a price tag of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” and that, after structural analysis, “the entire block might have to be razed.”
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At 7:30 am this morning (Thursday) demolition crews began tearing down the homes that were too damaged to salvage as fire crews are continuing to douse hot spots and flare-ups. Six of the houses have been demolished.
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