Sipesville Volunteer Fire Company

On the evening of December 8, at approximately 1830 hrs Station 607 was dispatched for a working structure fire at Emert Grinding with reports of flames through the roof. A crew at our station, ready to attend a monthly training session in Acosta, responded immediately along with a full crew from Acosta. Sipesville's incident commander had Acosta's engine lay 5" from a nearby stream to the intersection of Penn Avenue and Emert Road. Engine 607-4 arrived shortly thereafter and laid 5" from the intersection into the scene. Flames on the D side of the structure were through the outer wall and roof and were nearly 30 feet high. Firefighter's from Sipesville made an initial attack with a class A foam line on the visible fire coming from the structure and on engulfed piles of ground rubber near the building. A quick knockdown was acheived on this area, however the larger front portion of the building was already consummed with fire that had not been visible during the initial scene size up. Ventilation was established and an interior attack was ruled out due to the weakened structural itergrity and partial collapse of the roof. Tower 601-3 provided an aerial water stream and was a tremendous asset in extinguishing the blaze which went through the roof. The building was cleard out during the salvage and overhaul phase, although a rekindle caused firefighters to be summoned back to the scene, at 0010 hrs on December 9, to attack another large fire. On the second call, fire was through the roof of the building closer to the B side of the structure which was nearly unaffected by the first fire. The PSP fire marshal ruled that the rekindle was caused by a hot spot that was well hidden in the roof. Assisting at the scene(s) were Acosta, Somerset, Friedens, Listie, Jennerstown, and Boswell Fire Departments. Somerset Area Ambulance also provided EMS stand-by at the scene. No firefighters were injured during the fireground operations. The pictures below, photographed by Dave Llyod, were taken as units began an attack on the rekindle.