Embers from the blaze landed as far as two and a half miles away, according to the Eureka Volunteer Fire Company chief.
at an abandoned factory in Stewartstown, York County, caused only minimal damage to other buildings and could’ve been much worse, according to the fire chief who oversaw the response. In a letter to the community posted on Facebook late Saturday, Eureka Volunteer Fire Department Chief Todd Gibney said the response was “a huge win” given that firefighters had anticipated much more damage to the surrounding community.
Fire companies were called to the vacant furniture factory — a heavy timber and brick building constructed around 1900, according to Gibney — around 2 a.m. Saturday. The property’s footprint is 82,500 square feet, the fire chief wrote, with the three-story building creating nearly a quarter-million square feet of structure. The factory was a known fire risk, so much so that local responders had developed a 13-page “pre-plan” document detailing how to position equipment and other strategies to deal with the building if it became fully engulfed, according to Gibney. That plan anticipated that firefighters would be unable to save several nearby homes and businesses, the Gibney said. But a well-coordinated response — and some fortunate wind directions — meant that only other buildings suffered damage to their siding, according to Gibney. “It’s not often that firefighters are proud to say that they burned down a 250,000 SF building — because we never want to lose any lives or property. But this was a WIN in many ways,” the fire chief wrote. Further, according to Gibney, the borough had an 8-inch water line installed in a large pond in a nearby housing development, running to a point near the Stewartstown VFW building. The purpose of the line was to feed hoses in the event of a large fire instead of drawing on the borough’s limited public water system. This measure was effective, Gibney said, and firefighters used hydrant water for less than an hour before successfully switching over to the dedicated line. The fire “will go down as the biggest fire in Eureka history and likely one of the biggest fires in York County history,” Gibney wrote, spitting out embers roughly 6 inches in diameter. Some of those landed on nearby homes, Gibney said, but firefighters patrolled the surrounding area to ensure that secondary fires didn’t start. The department confirmed reports of embers landing as far as 2.5 miles away, the fire chief added. Gibney thanked the numerous agencies that responded from York, Lancaster, and Adams counties, as well as Baltimore and Harford counties in Maryland. The fire chief also cautioned the public to “let the process play out” and not jump to conclusions about what started the fire; the cause of the blaze is under investigation.If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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