Firefighter injured battling Mt. Carmel blaze; three displaced
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Ashland firefighter Jeremy Smallwood ascends a ladder to a burning home at 5th and Hickory Streets in Mount Carmel on Nov. 8, 2023.
MOUNT CARMEL – Three people were displaced after flames wrecked a home in this Northumberland County borough around midday Wednesday.
The fire broke out at 150 South Hickory Street around 11:30am.
Mount Carmel Township Police Chief Brian Hollenbush, who is also a township fire chief and led the firefight, said crews arrived to find heavy fire in the second floor at the rear of the building.
“Manpower during the day was tough. I was very, very limited on my people,” Hollenbush said. Rapid Intervention Teams from as far as Catawissa and Shamokin Dam were called in, along with firefighters from the Mount Carmel and Shamokin areas. “It’s unfortunate. We’re volunteers. A lot of these guys came from work.”
One firefighter was injured after falling down stairs, the chief said, but he did not know the severity of the injury. No residents were injured.
He said three people were displaced from the home.
The fire was contained to the home at 150 South Hickory, though an apartment building at 43 East 5th Street had melted siding as well.
Responding to assist Mount Carmel firefighters were crews from Ashland, Shamokin, Elysburg, Atlas, Catawissa, Kulpmont, Shamokin Dam, among others, as well as ambulances from Area Services, Ashland, and Elysburg.
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