Company 95 was dispatched to 773 West Pine Ford Road at 1656 hours for a report of smoke coming from the residence and possibly 2 dogs inside. On arrival it was confirmed there was a working basement fire and the dogs had been evacuated from the residence and the homeowners were not home. Ladder 95 set up in the driveway followed by Engine 49 and lines were laid to the front and rear of the house and crews made entry into the smoke filled house to locate the fire in the basement. The fire was located and extinguished and ventilation of the residence was done while waiting for the State Police Fire Marshal to confirm the cause of the fire. While crews were ventilating and monitoring air quality in the residence smoke began pouring out of the basement and crews quickly went back into firefighting mode and found that there was fire in another section of the basement in a crawl space. Access was attempted through an outside wall and a through the laundry room floor as well as the basement. After making access to the crawl space and clearing storage items the second fire was extinguished. It appears the the fire traveled through the HVAC ducts from the first fire causing the second fire, the air conditioner was on when crews first arrived while the first fire was burning, until crews shut down the power.
BAF&R was assisted by Amity 49, Eastern Berks 97, Gilbertsville 67, Upper Pottsgrove 79 and Boyertown Ambulance
Earl Township Fire 19 and Eastern Berks 97 covered calls for BAF&R while on the fire.
