| At 01:56 hours (1:56 am), Station 4 (Malvern) was alerted along with a full company from Station 5, Station 3 (Paoli) for an Engine and Tower, and Tower 2 (Berwyn) for the Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) to the 200 block of East King Street in Malvern Borough for a building fire reported to be at Pete’s Auto.
At 01:59 hrs (1:59 am) after receiving reports of a working fire from the police department, Chester County Fire Board transmitted the Working Fire Dispatch which re-alerted the initial companies and added Air 52 (Goodwill of West Chester FD), Rescue 47 (Lionville) as a second RIT team and Medic 2 for the working building fire.
Assistant 4 (K. Vaughn) arrived and confirmed fire showing from the front of an auto garage and established King Street Command.
Malvern units arrived on scene first followed closely by Engine 5-3 and firefighters made an aggressive interior attack in an attempt to find and extinguish the blaze. Crews forced entry through the main door on the side of the building and placed several attack lines in service in the garage area extinguishing a large volume of fire near the front of the building. Crews worked to isolate and extinguish the fire and ensure it had not extended further in to the building and that it did not involve any of the hazardous materials inside the building.
Engine 5-3 also stretched an additional attack line to the two story attached apartment building on the side to perform searches and check for fire extension. Crews searched in heavy smoke and moderate heat conditions but were able to determine the fire had not extended into apartments.
Additional crews from East Whiteland, Paoli, and Berwyn supplied manpower and completed ventilation, throwing ground ladders, salvage and overhaul.
King Street Command reported the bulk of the fire knocked down with all hands working at 02:22 hrs (2:22 am) and placed the fire under control at 02:34 hrs. (2:34 am).
Crews remained on scene for several additional hours while both County and State Police Fire Marshalls worked to investigate the cause and origin of the blaze. At the conclusion of the investigation, final overhaul was completed and all fire units returned available shortly before 05:00 hrs (5 am).
The Chester County Fire Marshal's Office is working to determine the cause of the fire. Fire and smoke related damages to the two structures is estimated at $700,000.
There was no reported firefighter or civilian injuries.
*Photos courtesy of the Malvern Fire Company and Michael Schon. |
