4 ALARM BUILDING FIRE IN PHOENIXVILLE
 
By Deputy Chief Chuck Fields
May 2, 2018
 

AT 11:08 AM The Chester County Fire Communications center alerted the first of what would end up being more than 4 alarms for an apartment building under construction on Fire. Volunteers from Kimberton joined Phoenixville, Valley Forge, Black Rock Fire and West End Ambulance in the 700 block of Wheatland Street. The complex which was under construction took up the entire block between Wheatland Street and Elm Avenue. Crews battled intense heat, low water pressure and a very fast moving fire. 911 communications were flooded with calls and struggled to dispatch sufficient apparatus to battle this fire. In the end, over 15 Fire Departments from Chester & Montgomery County, along with the County's Communications unit, IST team and the County and State Police Fire Investigators responded to the incident. Smoke could be seen for over 20 miles and commuter traffic was snarled due to closure of Route 23 east of Route 113. Crews from Kimberton returned home around 2:30 PM. Special thanks to Station 46 of Downingtown for bringing an engine to Kimberton to cover our calls.

 
Units: Tower 61, Rescue 61, Tanker 61, Brush 61, Utility 61, Chief 61
 
Mutual Aid: Valley Forge, Black Rock, Spring City, Norco, West End Ambulance, Trappe EMS, Lionville, Paoli, Malvern, East Whiteland, Berwyn, Linfield, Limerick, Trappe, Collegeville, Skippack, Perkiomenville, Willow Grove 2nd Alarmers, Chester County Communications & IST Team, County/State FM's,