Saturday, January 31, 2015

2-ALARM FIRE DESTROYS FARM SHED, TRACTORS IN LANCASTER COUNTY. A BLOCK HEATER USED TO KEEP AN ENGINE WARM SO A PIECE OF MACHINERY WILL START AFTER A COLD NIGHT SPARKED THE FIRE







2-ALARM FIRE DESTROYS FARM SHED, TRACTORS IN LANCASTER COUNTY.  A BLOCK HEATER USED TO KEEP AN ENGINE WARM SO A PIECE OF MACHINERY WILL START AFTER A COLD NIGHT SPARKED THE FIRE


Saturday, January 31, 2015

A two-alarm fire caused $150,000 damage to a large building and several tractors on a farm in Rapho Township.
A neighbor spotted the blaze at 2147 Wisgarver Road shortly after 7:30 p.m. Friday, Mastersonville Fire Company Deputy Chief Jeff Siegrist said.
Flames quickly went through the roof of the 60-by-100-foot storage and maintenance shed.
“We couldn’t really save anything there, so we kept it from spreading,” Siegrist said. Forty or more firefighters prevented the fire from significantly damaging a corn crib next to the shed.
A dozen or more fire companies sent units to fight the fire. Thirteen tankers hauled water from a fill site at Sauder Bros. Concrete, 1464 Mastersonville Road.
The building is back a long, narrow unpaved lane, making access difficult. Snow was drifting across roads and the lane, so some apparatus went through a field.
“Extreme cold caused problems,” Siegrist said. “Equipment froze up, apparatus got stuck in the snow. Wind made it cold on the guys, so we had to rotate crews through.”
Firefighters brought the blaze under control at 9:13 p.m. and stayed at the scene until 1 a.m. Saturday. No people or animals were injured.
The shed and nearly all of its contents, including at least seven tractors and other equipment, were destroyed, Siegrist said. Most of the tractors were old and may not have been working.
Damage was estimated at $100,000 to the building, $50,000 to contents.
A state police fire marshal ruled the fire accidental. It is thought a block heater used to keep an engine warm so a piece of machinery will start after a cold night sparked the fire, Siegrist said.
The property is owned by Roy High and others, according to county property records.
The same property was hit by a small fire when an oil furnace malfunctioned in December 2013, according to newspaper records. Damage from that fire was minimal.