Firefighters are still working at an East Germantown home after it caught on fire Thursday afternoon. NBC10’s Lili Zheng reports.
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One firefighter was hurt after more than 100 firefighters spent hours working to contain a Germantown house fire Thursday night.
Acting executive chief Daniel McCarty said fire crews responded to the 500 block of Brinton Street around 5 p.m. March 27 to find the first and second floors of a three-story twin home heavily engulfed in flames.
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“Firefighters aggressively started to attack the fire. At a point, we’re establishing it was safer to attack it from the outside, having an exterior attack,” McCarty said. “We do also have a collapse zone set up. That’s why we do have our responders on the exteriors of this fire scene to ensure if there is more collapse in this dwelling, that all of our responders are safe.”
One firefighter did sustain minor injuries, according to the fire department.
Wadia McKie said the structure belonged to her late grandmother and her father lives there now. McKie said her father is okay, and multiple family members tell NBC10 they’re working to determine who else may be unaccounted for.
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“I feel like, everything happens for a reason as cliché as that may sound. You understand universal law, you understand balance, and this too shall pass,” she said.
When asked if fire crews knew whether anyone was inside at the time of the fire, McCarty there are conflicting reports.
“We have different reports, but as we were initially in and realized the stability of this building, we pulled our rescuers out,” he said. “At this point, we can’t confirm. We do have different stories from neighbors, but we can’t confirm at this point.”
As firefighters worked to put out the blaze, crews with PECO, PGW and L&I were called to the scene to assess damage.
The cause of the fire has not been determined yet.
