Fire tore through a house in Willow Street today and forced officials to close a stretch of Willow Street Pike, but no injuries were reported.
Firefighters are shown at the scene of today's fire at 2711 Willow Street Pike, near Kendig Square sho
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Firefighters are shown at the scene of today's fire at 2711 Willow Street Pike, near Kendig Square sho
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Firefighters are shown at the scene of today's fire at 2711 Willow Street Pike, near Kendig Square sho
...(more)
The blaze, at a two-story house at 2711 Willow Street Pike, was reported at 10:36 a.m. and quickly brought dozens of firefighters rushing to the scene.
No one was inside the house - some nearby residents believe it's used for apartments - when the blaze broke out, fire officials said.
No preliminary cost estimate, or a cause that could be verified, was immediately available.
The dwelling is just 50 yards or so south of Kendig Square shopping center, and traffic was closed along the busy two-lane, one-way northbound stretch of Willow Street Pike that goes through Willow Street.
Flames were shooting up from the house about 20 feet or so when the first crews arrived at the scene, said Willow Street Fire Company Capt. Chris Heisler, who was one of the first ones there.
"It's been a little while since we had one (a fire) this big" in Willow Street, Heisler said.
After entering the flaming house and finding no occupants inside, the crews were fighting the fire on the second floor when "the roof started to collapse on us," and they got out, Heisler said.
The home is a light-colored, two-sided duplex with an attic.
Smoke could be clearly seen, and smelled, coming from the house about two hours after the fire.
Many nearby fire departments, including Lampeter, Lancaster Township, Quarryville, Lafayette and West Willow, along with EMS units, responded to the scene.
Said Heisler, "Being volunteer fire companies, we heavily rely on mutual aid to help one another out."
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