Three alarm blaze engulfs, destroys multiple downtown Ringtown residences
PHOTO COURTESY / Dennis Bauer - Flames engulf multiple residences on West Main Street in the borough of Ringtown on Friday, March 2, 2018.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
RINGTOWN – Fire crews from across northern Schuylkill, and southern Columbia and Luzerne Counties are tackled a massive blaze in downtown Ringtown Friday evening.
The dispatch came just before 9:00pm for a working structure fire at 26 North Main Street, and was quickly upgraded to a second alarm with a tanker task force when crews arrived to find heavy smoke and fire from a duplex residence.
At least three homes were involved, and all occupants escaped without injury.
Fire quickly engulfed multiple residences as crews dealt with winds upwards of 12mph.
Fire crews from Ringtown, Nuremberg-Weston, Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, Girardville, Frackville, Harwood, Hazle Township, Sugarloaf Township, Sheppton-Oneida, William Penn, Shenandoah Heights, among others responded to the scene.
State Troopers were also called to the scene, after it was reported over fire communications that “ordinary people” were fighting with firefighters at the rear of the structure.
A municipal road crew was called for hazardous road conditions, and a PP&L crew was also called to the scene.
Tanker fill sites were set up in Pattersonville and just east of Ringtown.
A third alarm was struck, bringing crews from Englewood, Hometown, and Mahanoy City’s tower, and the fire attack shifted to a “surround and drown” defensive attack.
McAdoo, Schuylkill Haven, and Minersville fire crews were brought to Mahanoy City, Shenandoah, and Frackville respectively on move-up assignments.
According to radio communications, one firefighter suffered an ankle injury, and was transported to a local hospital for an evaluation.
The fire was brought under control around 10:30pm, and second and third alarm units were released just after 10:45pm, with first alarm units remaining on scene to extinguish hotspots.
Rehab was set up for firefighters at the Ringtown Valley Fire Company, less than a block away from the scene.
This was the third structure fire in northern Schuylkill on Friday, the others occurring in Ryan Township and Frackville respectively.
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