Monday, April 12, 2010

Double House Damaged On Orange Street

On April 12, 1940 at 12:30 p.m. firemen were alerted to a house fire at 148-150 West Orange Street. A fire possible caused by a defective chimney or faulty wiring badly damaged the attic over the two address and damaged a second floor storage room. The remainder of the two houses suffered considerable water damage leaving both residences uninhabitable. Firemen were unable to attack the blaze from the outside because the tin roof was covered with slate keeping the flames to the inside. Both hose companies were forced to run there lines through the interior to fight the fire. (Keep in mind that air packs were few and far between at this time with the companies only having a few Chemox packs) Firemen from the Vigilant Hose and Cumberland Valley Hose companies battled the blaze for over an hour before bringing it under control.

1 comment:

Sparky said...

This is some site. As I have read stories on some of the great Fires in the US. and looking at picture books of old fire apparatus. This site looks at firefighting back in the day of Shippensburg and area. This would be something to see today. All the stables around town, firemen riding down the street to fires, and no air packs. Great site Brad keep up the good job. And if any one else would like to comment feel freely.