Collapse 95 was requested at 1712 hours by West Reading Fire Command to assist with Structure evaluations and search and rescue operations at the Palmer Candy Factory after an explosion leveled a large portion of the factory and a neighboring apartment building. Crews arrived and worked with Command to inspect the surrounding damaged buildings and searching in the rubble with special cameras that reach below the surface to locate any missing people that were in or around the building when it exploded. Montgomery County USAR team arrived later in the evening and they deployed their search dogs which hit on a couple locations and resulted in the rescue of a female employee that was buried in the basement of the structure. BAF&R and the USAR Team worked closely together to rescue the woman and to recover other employees that did not survive. BAF&R was on scene for more than fourteen hours assisting West Reading Fire Company and the USAR Team, Numerous Fire, EMS and Police Agencies were on location assisting as well as the Coroner’s Office. West Reading Public Works assisted with the search providing equipment and operators to move debris to search for missing people.
BAF&R has the Victims and their families in our prayers.
