Massive Fire in Conshohocken, PA

mmadden28

Holy crap. I have never all my years of firefighting ever seen such fire. I've seen large and massive fires before , but not with such complete combustion and so little smoke on a structure fire.

Major fire in a Phila suburb Conshohocken. It started around 5pm in a 4(?) story apartment building under construction-All wood studs, no walls or sprinklers yet. It had plenty of Oxygen, Fuel and heat. The entire thing was gone in about 20 minutes. It then jumped to other nearby apartment buildings and again and again. I think 5 or 6 buildings invoved now. Its gone beyond 8 alarms-its now at All points or General alarm level whuich means all fire departments in a 20 mile radius are on call to come in and assist. Philly fire is on standby. Once it jumped tot he occupied buildings the smoke started. I had to pickup my kids from daycare so I had to leave, but even about 15 miles away in Paoli I could still see the smoke header.
Embers are reported falling 12 blocks away!!

My office is just across the river-I had an unobstructed view-I could feel the heat even from there. Holy crap, all those people now without a home. Some of them I work with. Man.....I thought the Bridgeport fire a few years ago was big (also went to a General alarm), but at least that was just a factory. This involves homes. Last report wa about 375 people displaced.

Only a couple minor injuries. Still on fire at this time. Not under control yet.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6325577

mantis

That really sucks. I work up there from time to time. It's a nice place.

schwarcw

WOW!

Doesn't appear that anyone was seriously hurt. Damn shame people losing their homes.

mmadden28

Finally put under control about 10:30p - 5 1/2 hours later.

That spread real fast-I can understand the original fire building being under construction, no fire supression or firewalls, etc yet, and I can understand how it jumped, but the other buildings weren't old. They were up to the latest fire code standards, They were sprinklered and had firewalls. The news reported that the sprinklers in these were intended only to allow emergency escape and not for fire supression.

I heard reports of water supply issues-that right there is one reason this could have gotten out of hand. I didn't see it mentioned, but in one of the chopper videos, I could see a 5" hose line burning. That could certainly cause some water supply issues. Something was seriously wrong here-I look forward to the results of the investigations.

I remember another large Apt. complex fire in Bensalem maybe 18 years ago. I think it burned thru 23 buildings. But that was becasue the firewalls were poorly implemented and they used some kind of wax product in the roofing-the thing burned like a candle.

Hmmm. Yesterday at my office I almost pulled the fire alarm because of an intense Natural Gas smell that wafted through the building. It eventually dissapated and fears eased since there was no Natural Gas in the buidling at all-so the smell must have come from the outside air in via the ventilation system. I wonder if that might be related to today's fire?? Some leaking gas line, or over pressured and venting line or something. Well, probably not, but it was a thought.

I know that at least a couple of my co-workers lived there. I am glad there were no serious injuries, with the exception of some pets-which to some might as well have been thier children. Such a loss.

The Red Cross was setup within 2 hours at a neighboring fire house. Now that's a response. Last report was almost everybody displaced was able to was able stay with freinds or were put in a hotel (on the developer). Nobody has to sleep in a cot at the firehouse tonight.

Estimated at a loss in the $10s of millions.

Some pics:
This is the original building
View from my building (not my pics)
Note-these show a lot of smoke--When I was watching live there was little smoke. You can see that in some of the early video shots on the news sites.

and


This is after the original building burned up--you can still see the 6 fire stair towers standing-The neighboring apts above on fire behind the smoke. I belive it took 5 buildings in all.



Some

Fireman32

Wow that is one heck of a blaze. Makes me miss firefighting. Glad to hear that nobody was hurt seriously.

capecodder

Damn.. I know the area pretty well, thats near my home stompin' grounds.

Face

That's terrible.

mmadden28

I could actually feel the heat all the way across the river.

zingo

Say a prayer for all those people who are out of homes. That's a terrible event.

mmadden28

Holy bejesus! They are reporting over $100 millionin damages.

While many lives were seriously disrupted, and some lost pets, and irreplaceable memories lost (photos, etc)---at least lives were not lost. And I believe the complex had a rule requiring insurance, so most if not all of the residents were covered. At least its something...

mmadden28

The cause of the fire: Ruled Accidental--Workers using an assembly torch to cut scrap metal ignited the wooden framework.

More good news:
During demolition today many pets are being found still alive amongst the rubble.

Talking to my coworker who lost it all, he said the building owners were provided furnished units in other nearby properties for a couple months lease free. I think that is awesome!

The Governer is calling for the couty to be decalred a disaster area to allow for homeowners to qualify for small loans to get back on thier feet.

More info:
News reports that about 80 fire companies from 5 counties helped extinguish the blaze (although IMHO its more likely that some of those 80 companies involved-were actually providing coverage, relief and salvage & overhaul duties (which are not part of the extinguishing the blaze action. But you know how the news is)