
Working Incident Fire is out.
Updates are posted. Scroll down.
New Update, 11:00 pm – burned car and body found inside firehouse. Scroll down.
Further Updated: Victim was not a volunteer member.
THE LEITHSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, FIREHOUSE in Northampton County is on fire this afternoon after a dump truck crashed into the building around 1 pm.

Allentown Morning Call
The Allentown Morning Call is reporting:
The three-alarm fire, reported around 1 p.m. Thursday, has firefighters from mutual aid stations in Northampton, Bucks and Lehigh counties responding with tanker trucks to bring water to the fire.
Firefighters on scene initially reported flames from three of the four bays of the fire station at 1995 Leithsville Road, which is Route 412 in Lower Saucon Township.
Emergency radio dispatches said there is at least one burn victim and the fire has spread to the entire building. A social banquet hall on the property to the rear of the fire station is not involved in the fire.
Two tanker task forces with at least 10 trucks have reportedly set up to draw water from two locations off Routes 412 and 212, and fire police have closed down those roads in the area of the fire station.
Leithsville's equipment is presumably still inside the building. The fire company has a 2001 E-One engine, a 1991 E-One heavy rescue truck, two tankers trucks and a brush trucks, according to its website. Update: there were just three trucks inside, all lost to the fire. The engine, a tanker and a brush truck….ed.
This is a breaking incident and reports are just coming in. Firegeezer will be updating so check back for fresh reports.
Update, 3 pm Eastern:
The dump truck was a triple-axle rig hauling asphalt. It crashed through the front of the building and immediately broke out in fire with the driver barely escaping according to people on the scene.
It is not yet known if the burn victim is the truck driver or somebody who was in the station. The firehouse is fully involved and it is expected that the building and the apparatus inside will be total losses.
Two tanker task forces have been deployed. A third task force was dispatched but returned after fire officers said they didn't have the resources for more water supply.

Morning Call
Update #2, 3:30 pm:
The morning call is now quoting neighbors as saying that the truck driver is the burn victim. The firehouse faces into a T-intersection and the road it faces is a downgrade. Apparently the dump truck was on the downgrade and could not stop at the intersection, instead traveling across the highway into the firehouse.

Lehigh Valley News

Lehigh Valley News
Google Street View of Leithsville Fire Station


Satellite view of the fire station shown in upper center.
The truck came down Flint Hill Rd. that is
located in the lower right of the view.

The rear of the dump truck is seen in this image from WFMZ-TV
The Hellertown Patch has more details and a photo gallery HERE.

Hellertown Patch
Update, 11:00 pm:
After the fire was out, a car with a driver was discovered in the firehouse, both burned up. Initially it appears that as the dump truck careened across the highway, it struck the car and drove it into the station ahead of it. The fire that broke out immediately trapped the driver. So far, the only fact that the police and coroner have confirmed is that there was a burned body found in the building. Witnesses are stating that the car is underneath the truck's cab.
Update, Friday afternoon:
The Leithsville Fire Chief has verified that the victim was not a volunteer member of the department. Police are going with the original speculation that his car was T-boned by the dump truck and dragged into the building. The Morning Call has an updated report HERE.
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