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IRVONA  FIRE  HALL   HIT  BY  FIRE!

December  22,  2000

IRVONA - Hundreds of times over the years, the firefighters at Irvona Volunteer Fire Company have raced to the fire hall, jumped into the firefighting gear, and rushed to fire scenes. Hundreds of times over the years, they pulled air packs on, grabbed a fire hose, and as many rushed from burning buildings, the firefighters went in. It is all typical in the life of a firefighter.

Yesterday, however, was not something they have trained for. When Clearfield County Control activated the fire whistles at Irvona, Glen Hope, and Glendale fire halls, and advised that the Irvona Fire Hall was the location of the structure fire, many were stunned, including the firefighters.

Junior firefighter Jason Feaster went down into the basement yesterday at about 3:20 pm, he stated he was going to check if the fire in the furnace was ok! Feaster made it down three steps, and was greeted by the fire. He ran back upstairs, and told the others working inside that the basement was on fire, and they immediately called 911.

Rick Kruise, Deputy Chief with Glendale fire department was the first one on scene, not already at the building, and reported to county control he had heavy smoke coming from the eaves. The Irvona firefighters and ambulance personnel came in droves and started carrying items from the burning building. Quick work saved most everything from inside. There is some concern about the ambulance services computer system and fax machine. The computer has hundreds of saved ambulance reports inside, and only time will tell if they can be salvaged.

The trucks were pulled from the hall first, and used in the fight against the fire. The weather was at it’s coldest all year, and the wind chill factor put temperatures around 30 degrees below zero, making fighting the fire even harder on the firefighters.

The Irvona Municipal Authority was contacted so they could come and shut off the water to the building. The basement was already flooding, and it was feared it would raise higher, and cause even more damage.

The fire and ambulance service have had a very tough year. In October, life time member, and past Fire Chief and Past President William “RIP” Collins lost a long bout with cancer. Last month, a crash involving the ambulance, destroyed the ambulance, and took the life of Elwood Queen, Sr. He was serving as Fire Company President at the time. Now, the fire has heavily damaged the nearly 100 year old building.

The building was a former movie theater, they showed silent movies there, it was also a dance hall, a bank, and most recently the Post office was housed in part of it.

The community was pulling together in this latest time of need to help the fire company, as items were carried from the burning building, residents were loading them in their vehicles and taking them to their homes, advised they would keep it safe, until it was needed. The local Presbyterian Church advised anything that needed to be stored could be stored in the basement, the Post Office was kept open after regular hours, so firefighters could go inside and get warm, the local brick yard, TYK Refactories, is giving the fire company space to keep the trucks in out of the cold, and Christoff Oil, in Houtzdale, has provided  oil,  and  "CUB"  Baer  has   provided  heaters to help thaw out hose and the truck from the cold.

As Irvona’s fire and ambulance personnel dealt with this latest tragedy, you could see the tears in their eyes, and some, had tears frozen on their cheeks. As a member of the Fire Company, I have asked, how much more must one small, close company, endure in the span of a year, and even a few months.

I had asked Clearfield County Dispatcher Diana Gray-Puit how she could remain so calm as she dispatched the fire, and she said “I had to, it’s my job! But I was in total disbelief!” She is not alone.

For approximately seven hours the crews were on scene fighting the blaze. There is currently no word on the cause, but the State Police Fire Marshall from Clearfield was on scene. The building was insured, no damage estimate is available. Fire and ambulance personnel had just put a new roof on the building, and they were having new doors and windows installed by Cossick Construction, who was inside the building when the fire began. Currently the ambulance office looks like a total loss, but, only time will tell. The service is anticipating a new ambulance next week, and would hope to have it in service between Christmas and New Years, but currently, they have no office and no where to house it.

The State police fire marshall has noted that the fire began due to a furnace malfunction. As the details on that, and on the damage estimate are avaliable I'll post the info here.

Firefighters from Glendale, Glen Hope, Mahaffey, Madera, and Reade Township assisted at the scene, while Big Run was on Stand bye for Mahaffey, and Ashville was on Stand by at Glendale, the Madera Ambulance and Glendale QRS were on scene, as were the Irvona Fire Police and the American Red Cross. Madera Ambulance personnel treated one firefighter for minor smoke inhalation on scene, and he was released.

Currently, Irvona Fire Company is still in service. The radios still work, as does the whistle

Fire fighters work to extinguish the blaze.

The  smoke  was  very  heavy  at  times

SEE!  I  TOLD  YOU!

Fighting a losing battle

This  is  compliments  of  the  Clearfield   Progress

The  inside  of  our  Ambulance Office

Another  view  of  the  Ambulance  Office,   the  next  day

Yes,  another picture of the office

One  more  look  at  the  remains  of   our  office

This  is  the  basement,  and  where  the   fire  began

Here is another look  at  the  basement  damage

Tommy  Chutko  takes  a  look  at  the   exterior  of  the  building  the  next  day

The  inside  of  the  ambulance bay

Another look outside, the next day

The  Fire  equipment  lines  Julia  street   at  the  fire

Here  is  one  of  the  bathrooms  that   was  damaged