Good Training Pays Off at Phoenixville House Fire by Assistant Chief Evan Taylor July 30, 2008
On the Morning of Saturday July 26, 2008, Phoenixville Fire Department along with Tower 61 and Engine 68-2 were dispatched to a house fire on South Street. The only information given about the fire was that someone had seen smoke coming from a window. First arriving crews forced entry into the front of the house and were immediately faced with smoke. Upon entering the first floor through the front door, firefighters noticed and recognized the floor to be "spongy" and quickly backed out. A "spongy" floor describes the feel of a floor when the supports underneath are no longer good to stand on and the floor feels soft or has an unusual amount of give under your own body weight. Instead of entering through the front, the crews went to the rear of the house and accessed the home through the basement where they found a fire in the floor boards and a support beam that had totally burned through. Had it not been for the good training and fast thinking of the first in crews, they could have fallen through the floor and the outcome would have been much different. Valley Forge crews assisted with overhaul of the fire area and ventilating the house.
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"Protecting Your National Heritage" P.O. Box 62 630 Valley Park Road Valley Forge, PA 19481
