Garage decimated, man rescued from Saint Clair fire
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The damage to a garage on South Third Street in Saint Clair on August 26, 2020.
SAINT CLAIR – One man had to be rescued from his home after a blaze decimated a garage and damaged eight properties Wednesday afternoon in this borough.
The fire broke out around 4:00pm in a garage on South Third Street in the borough, behind 304 South Second Street.
Among the first on scene was Deputy Chief Carl Skrobak.
“We had heavy fire in the garage and it was also spreading to the home [at 4 West Patterson,] and we also had heavy smoke and heat damage to the properties on the Second Street side,” Skrobak said.
The garage, he said, is a total loss. One man, John Lubish, lived in 4 West Patterson and had to be rescued from the home.
Fire Chief Frank Uhrin said that at least 16 people were impacted across eight properties.
The damaged properties, according to Uhrin, are:
- 312 South Second
- 308 South Second
- 306 South Second
- 304 South Second
- 302 South Second
- 300 South Second
- 310 South Third
- 4 West Patterson
Uhrin said as of about 6:00pm, only one person, Lubish, would definitely be displaced, as his home suffered the most damage. All others would depend on if the Saint Clair Light Department could restore power to their homes.
No firefighters were injured, though some people were evaluated at the scene. Uhrin could not provide the exact number and extent of injuries and treatment.
The Schuylkill County Animal Response Team was called to the scene to assist with animals in surrounding properties, and all are accounted for and okay, according to Jay Woodford.
Charlie Premich owned the garage, and was camping at the time of the fire.
“We were on our way home, and I got a call that someone had seen a gentlemen leaving the garage with his pants on fire, and then the garage went up in flames,” Premich said.
Premich has owned the property, addressed to 304 South Second Street, since 1999, according to the Schuylkill County Parcel Locator. Since moving to the Cressona area, he rents out the home but continued to store personal effects in the garage, including a new golf cart.
Premich said that, from what he had gathered, a tenant had someone in the garage working on a vehicle when the fire broke out.
The fire, Uhrin said, reached a second alarm, drawing firefighters from Pottsville, Altamont, and Schuylkill Haven, among others, to assist Saint Clair’s five fire companies.
The fire was extinguished within about half an hour, Skrobak said, though crews remained on scene into the evening.
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