Lancaster City 3rd Alarm Row Home Fire Box64 3/13/2023

[@LancasterResponding]

REMINDER! ABSOLUTELY NO BASHING OR POLITICS ALLOWED! I’m turning the comments back on but if you guys still can’t behave yourselves I’ll disable them permanently.

[@haroldenglish943]

You got issues super nazi. I'm gonna hold.my breath because two people.disagree. Jesus Karen, Smoke a bowl and chill!

[@TheBaritoneCrooner]

I live in the suburbs of Chicago and my family wants to move to Lancaster to be near family but you couldn’t pay me to live in a Pennsylvania rowhouse. Especially when, like this row, all of the attic cocklofts are shared and one fire spreads down the line like water flowing in an ice tray. If you know about the flooding compartments in the Titanic, this is like watching it sink upside down! 😫 A single family home in the country’s fine with me. You don’t have worry about your neighbors old wiring, drug habits or stupidity in the kitchen!

[@philindiss]

That’s all very good if you can afford to , and we don’t all want to live in the countryside

[@joed9491]

@@philindiss - Even a problem in the countryside with single family homes going for $300K or more with the way they are building them with not only the compressed wood and all the glue that is used in the process but how close they continue to build them so they can fit more homes into a section of land for more profits. I told my wife that they could build a new housing development on 10 acres of land in the middle of nowhere in Iowa and they still would squeeze as many homes as they could where there's barely any space between the homes. My house is the 2nd I have owned and I refuse to buy anything so close to the next which worked out well for my first house when my neighbors was destroyed by fire. No way would mine of survived without damage had it been as close as we are seeing so many of these developments being built today. One thing though that if I ever lived in say a row/town house, I would want to find out more about the construction in regards to firewalls.

[@jimdevilbiss9125]

In reading your comment, it seems like do you really think this is the only place in United States where they have connected older homes?

[@danielheartsill4269]

I live in the Dallas Tx area. If we have row houses I have never seen one. We live in suburban Dallas where the houses all have space between them. We also have a great fire department. Last fall our next door neighbor had an oven fire. Five fire trucks, an ambulance, and three police cars responded. We are eight blocks from a fire station and they were there before any fire got out of the oven, my thanks to them.

[@ffjsb]

I wouldn't even fly over Chicago let alone live there.... At least you can refurbish a Pa. rowhouse to bring it up to code. You can easily add a fire wall in the cockloft.

[@obcharles6236]

Nice job guys I retired in 1989 as a lieutenant on ladder a Lancaster

[@tomp8871]

Great job on the video, you covered all the angles.

[@LancasterResponding]

Thanks dude!

[@williamschlenger1518]

Great coverage 👍

[@46fd04]

When they got up on that roof with a well-involved attic, an Aerial ladder or platform should have been raised to that roof, and a hoseline up there as well.

[@rdbimages]

There was a stick to the roof in the rear. Did you not see all of the overhead wires in the front?

[@christianesh5177]

There was actually a straight stick stretched in the rear and multiple hand lines on the roof

[@johngoglia-gh7ql]

​@@rdbimages true truckie driver place truck so he can use aerial

[@petergardner5002]

Not easy to use aerial ladders when electricity supply is run overhead(rare in UK)

[@ziree22]

In the Netherlands we have only the main electric line above ground all the rest is underground

[@Sea-cucumber1151]

Many new developments all have underground which is wonderful, electric rarely goes out in a storm if ever in Virginia, but in West Virginia in the mountains, it is underground, but easily loses electricity in storms. Any old cities you will find above ground. Due to old infrastructure etc

[@joyfullone3968]

Fountain of smoke coming out of that attic wow!

[@ffjsb]

It's good to finally see a video of fire crews in Pa. doing a decent job. This was a damn tough fire, with real crappy access due to all the wires. Not a whole lot you can do with an old decrepit building like that either.

[@JB91710]

How did I know you would excuse this job away?

[@johngoglia-gh7ql]

Built in 1940's support families assigned to ft Indiantown Gap

[@ffjsb]

@@JB91710 How did I know you'd make another moronic comment???

[@ffjsb]

That architecture looks to be much older than the 40's. The military wouldn't have built brick buildings for housing during the wartime, they'd have used straight wood construction for speed. It's also way too elaborate for wartime construction.

[@johngoglia-gh7ql]

@@ffjsb it's cheap they would

[@mattteixeira6077]

Evacuation building all firefighters out of structure

[@RabbahDocRona]

Time 16 on the video a truck ladder pipe finally in use. They had almost half dozen trucks and towers on scene. Should have been streaming much sooner. Add in available Squirts/Schnozzles too. Those hand lines in the window will never knock that kind of fire

[@LancasterResponding]

Crews were busy performing a tench cut and protecting both exposures. Only active Snozzle is 30 minutes away. Had to wait for PP&L to shut power down to the block.

[@RabbahDocRona]

@@LancasterResponding noted. Thanks for the update

[@RabbahDocRona]

@@LancasterResponding I will note that an innovative IC will find workarounds without compromising safety, in order to aggressively attack the fire. Old school firefighters do it the same old way and the job does get done, but there is more damage to primary and exposures, and firefighters who don't adhere to SCBA rules have very high cancer incidence. They should have their masks on well before they approach the smoke area. If the wind shifts or the building collapses it's too late, and the firefighter has cooked lungs...

[@richardmeo2503]

It seems that that skill set has been lost on this generation.

[@Tower_15_Ladder]

​@jmWhyMe only Snozzle/squrt in the county is Lincoln's Engine 16-1 (Being replaced by a Snozzle soon).

[@46fd04]

I take it the big X means the house is abandoned???

[@LancasterResponding]

Condemned do not enter

[@stephaniekelly4384]

Arson involved in the condemned house?

[@stephaniekelly4384]

I would NEVER, even if you payed me $1 million live in a complex like this, I feel so sorry for families who lost everything

[@LancasterResponding]

@@stephaniekelly4384 Probably squatters. Unintended arson basically.

[@jackfrank303]

The sign- white X with red background- means exterior operations only. Only go in for a known life hazard. Serious structural problems inside make it too dangerous for firefighters to make interior attack.

[@jesseweaver_fuyt]

Could you imagine if that fire broke out on 3/14/23 with 20-50mph winds. The whole block would of been done.

[@LancasterResponding]

Yeah today would be much much worse.

[@jesseweaver_fuyt]

@@LancasterResponding those looked like there condemned homes. Possible squatters started that fire?

[@LancasterResponding]

It may have been.

[@Sea-cucumber1151]

What does the X’s mean? Empty? Looked it up, unsafe for first responders, yet they were in one?

[@LancasterResponding]

X means condemned. They tried to make an attack on the original rowhome but backed out. The two row homes at the very end were not condemned though.

[@kevinlynch1227]

Wow. What a shame!! I wonder what caused this?, AND will they be repaired or knocked down. Thanks for the video!

[@LancasterResponding]

Probably squatters and 8 of the 10 rows were condemned years ago for structural issues so they were knocked down last week

[@kevinlynch1227]

​@@LancasterResponding Wow.. Thanks for your responce and the info. Keep up the great work!!!

[@LancasterResponding]

@@kevinlynch1227 Will do! And thanks dude

[@johngoglia-gh7ql]

Up to insurance.. built in 40's

[@johngoglia-gh7ql]

Trench cut .. stop lateral spread

[@2olvets443]

Have the brick fire walls, basement to roof not been kept up? I know they get covered with lathe and plaster but people should know they need to point the brick once in a while.

[@LancasterResponding]

These rows we’re built looooong before that was common practice.

[@2olvets443]

@@LancasterResponding Not true I lived in one back in the early 80's. I re worked the mortar joints in the one I lived in. Also got rid of the lathe and put in sheet rock. It could be not all were done or not many, but I know where we lived it had been. We were end of row and some bricks were crumbling apart from water leaking for quite some time. those had to be replaced all together. The basement walls the mortar was just crumbling apart. All was knocked out and redone like you would put icing on a cake with a squeeze bag full of mortar.

[@LancasterResponding]

@@2olvets443 Then someone else that told me they lived there is lying. Anyway they had been condemned for several years so they weren’t in the best shape anyway.

[@2olvets443]

@@LancasterResponding I'm seeing when doing a search on Plum there have been issues. I didn't live on plumb but not far from there. It could just be the contractor, a few years difference when built, maybe the one we had was actually owned by someone that actually did the work many years prior to us having it but after the original build. Couldn't say for sure all the homes were how ours was. When I hung sheet rock I did use 5/8" on the shared walls and 1/2" on the exterior walls.

[@LancasterResponding]

I tend not to believe what people tell me when they see that I’m filming because it seems every time every single person “used to live there.” The way the smoke and fire moved definitely seemed like there was only minimal resistance. Any other time you see attic fires in rows in the city there’s minimal damage to the exposures even if they arrive with a definite attic fire.

[@sonanddadchannelmostlydad56]

What is their on duty staffing?

[@LancasterResponding]

3 Engines, 1 Truck and a Batt Chief so 15 firefighters. Truck 2 and Engine 1 have four but Engine 2 & 3 only have 3.

[@flamingstag2381]

what does it mean when a building has a cross on it ?

[@LancasterResponding]

Condemned

[@flamingstag2381]

@@LancasterResponding thank you

[@moemcgovern7345]

The poor dog. Is he injured or scared? This is hard on animals.

[@LancasterResponding]

No the dog is fine. He was a neighbor’s dog barking at the arson sniffer dog.

[@johnpratt9429]

We’re they all condemned homes?

[@LancasterResponding]

8 of 10 were. They were able to save the occupied ones by preforming a trench cut.

[@andreahuston250]

A lot of "Watering the Bricks"

[@ziree22]

Did they got the dogs out ontime ? I heard them frentecly anxious barking

[@LancasterResponding]

It was a neighbor’s dog barking at the arson sniffer dog

[@2ndAmendment-Jeffrey]

Looks like the building owner under bid the construction job. Trying to cash in on insurance claim.

[@LancasterResponding]

These buildings were condemned to problems with the foundations and the rock layer beneath.

[@rb810810]

Kind of a waste of beautiful rowhouses. Would be amazing if they could be brought up to modern code, but they will probably be knocked down...

[@LancasterResponding]

Can’t be brought to code. They were condemned to do problems with the foundations due to the underlying rock layer.

[@rb810810]

@@LancasterResponding yikes

[@ziree22]

They really need more training, I'm no expert in fire but have seen lots video's , from the beginning of the video the way houses are built here in the US I already new that fire will spread across the roofline. The fd should have responded sooner from the moment they arrived, instead watching smook comming out of neighbors roofs.

[@JB91710]

This was a typical USA performance. They couldn't have cared less about stopping this fire.

[@williamschlenger1518]

Get off the roof.Great looking ladder trucks,use them.

[@ffjsb]

Kinda hard to put up an aerial through a bunch of power lines SMH.

[@JB91710]

@@ffjsb That's why they put stairs in the building dummy! there was nothing stopping them from efficiently applying water through the windows and then going inside to fight this while further venting windows. There was no reason to be on the roof. All they did was get it to breath better until the entire attic was burning. These sloths couldn't have cared less. You should join them. You would fit right in.