POTTSTOWN — A fire truck caught fire inside the Goodwill firehouse on Thursday night, destroying the truck and causing minor damage to the firehouse and other nearby emergency vehicles.
One firefighter went to the hospital for breathing in smoke, but had been released by Friday morning and was back at the firehouse at 714 E. High St.
The cause of the fire is not yet officially known, Pottstown Fire Chief Frank Hand said Friday as a crew from the Serv Pro cleaning service continued to wipe soot and powder from chairs and other items stored inside the firehouse. However, one of the many electronic devices in the truck cab, where the fire started and was mainly contained, is the suspected cause, he said.
A fire investigator from the Pennsylvania State Police is handling the investigation, which is the proper protocol, said Hand.
By the time the fire was discovered, it was too late to get the truck, or any of the other vehicles in the building, outside to minimize the damage, said Kevin Yerger, chief of the Goodwill Fire Company.
The call went out at 8:51 p.m. and by 9:15 p.m. the fire was already under control, said Yerger, who noted that North End and Phillies fire companies responded, “but by the time they got here, the people here had done a such good job knocking it down with the fire extinguishers, the fire was mostly out. But we dragged a hose in here to give everything a wash down to be sure.”
Sanatoga, Ringing Hill and Upper Pottsgrove fire companies provided fire police while High Street was shut down, he said.
Goodwill houses not only two fire companies — Goodwill and Empire — but also the Goodwill ambulance service, which is the major ambulance service provider for the Tri-County area.
The station, including its ambulances, was back in service within an hour, Yerger said. Although surrounding ambulance companies were on call while the station was down, “to my knowledge, no calls came in requiring their service during that hour.”
He said the truck that was damaged is not one of the front-line trucks but comes into service mostly when a fire goes to a second alarm.
However, because many of the vehicles inside the firehouse had their windows open, there was some smoke and white powder damage from the fire extinguishers, but nothing extensive.
“We’ve had to clean off a lot of the equipment and we had to throw out a lot of the medical supplies in the ambulances and re-stock them, but it could have been much, much worse,” said Yerger.
Also damaged were the garage doors on the older section of the firehouse. “The main electrical control for all three doors is right above where the fire was, so we either have to raise them individually now or do it manually until it’s repaired,” said Yerger.
Although the fire caused only minor physical damage, the event was disturbing.
“Almost everyone came today to offer help, wanting to clean or do something,” Yerger said. “But we have Serv Pro here to handle it, that’s their job. Besides, everyone is kind of in initial shock. Many of us spend a lot of time here, we sleep here, it's like home, so we all feel the same way someone does when there is a fire in their home.”
