Trending
We're still in awe of the effort by firefighters early Friday morning to quell a fire that could have easily spread and consumed an entire block of buildings downtown.
Reported about 6:30 a.m. as the temperature hovered around 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit, the blaze at the vacant furniture store at 37 Bellefonte Avenue in really did require the efforts of four ladder trucks and dozens of firefighters from the region.
At it's height just before dawn Friday, we saw flames reaching hundreds of feet into the air -- giving the impression that this blaze was spreading to adjacent buildings, including an historic city church.
Had those flames spread to beyond the old, two-story Wolf/Heilig Myers furniture store, well, we do not want to even think about it.
The store sits amid a maze of interconnected buildings behind Triangle Park, behind the Clinton County Women's Center, and behind Covenant United Methodist Church and next to a narrow Willards Alley.
Across that alley is the vacant and condemned Town Tavern -- it, too, has a hole in the roof.
Those of us at The Express who were alerted to the fire and rushed to the scene were struck by the images -- the reality -- of firefighters climbing ladder trucks with oxygen masks on, rising amid the thick smoke and icy spray of water from their water guns aimed at the flames to put the fire out.
At some points, you could not seem them as the thick smoke and icy spray enveloped them.
We saw four ladder trucks ring the perimeter of the fire with their water guns directly aimed at the guts of the furniture building -- two on Bellefonte Avenue, one in Triangle Park and yet another with its ladder very carefully extended over the roof (and under power lines) of Covenant United Methodist Church on West Main Street.
Dozens of firefighters from Clinton, Lycoming and Centre counties converged on the scene.
Thirteen units from Clinton, four from Lycoming and three from Centre responded.
The joint Lycoming-Clinton county mobile command unit based, we believe, at Loyalsock came, too.
The Salvation Army provided its mobile canteen to offer drinks and food.
A firefighting crew initially entered the vacant store to attack the flames, but that became too dangerous and thankfully they were called out -- we heard the horns blare. The roof ultimately did collapse, and a wall crumbled.
Water from hoses and spray guns that seemed to instantly turn to ice.
Thick, choking smoke.
Low visibility.
Slick pavement.
Live power lines.
City officials praised the coordination of the attack by city Fire Chief Bob Neff.
The ladder trucks and their powerful water guns formed a water curtain to keep flames from spreading beyond the origin of the fire.
We want to echo that praise and thank the firefighters who really did prevent a catastrophe.