Minutes after
firefighters entered the burning Bristol
Township home early Monday, the flames
swelled, trapping three Levittown Fire
Company No. 2 members on the second floor.
Two escaped by jumping out second-story
windows. The third found the main staircase
that led to the front door and escaped that
way. All suffered minor injuries, including
burns and bruises.
The slow, smoldering overnight fire in
the 20 block of Spring Lane destroyed the
two-story home, fire officials said.
Three adults and a dog escaped the home,
which was built in 1952, before firefighters
from six stations arrived on the scene
shortly after 12:30 a.m. Firefighters found
heavy fire on the first and second floors,
Edgely Fire Chief Kevin Flanagan Jr. said.
Four Edgely firefighters attacked the
flames on the ground floor, while the three
Levittown members charged upstairs. Within a
minute after the firefighters entered the
second floor, conditions deteriorated to the
point where they were forced to flee,
Bristol Township Fire Marshal Kevin
Dippolito said.
The injured firefighters were treated for
minor burns, bruises and other injuries at
St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown and
released.
The electrical fire started in the back
of an attached storage room, Dippolito said.
Concealed by the home's walls, floor,
ceiling and wall joists, the fire spread for
an unknown amount of time before the
homeowners realized what was happening, he
said.
“It had some time to grow,” he said.
The blaze spread stealthily, and the
homeowners suspected a problem only after
the cable TV went out, as the fire
apparently had burned through the cable
line, Dippolito said.
Fire damage left the home uninhabitable,
and the residents reportedly were staying
with family, Dippolito said. County property
records indicate the owner is the Howard E.
Morgan Trust.
The house had working smoke detectors
that alerted the residents, fire officials
said.
On Monday night, Edgely Fire Company
members canvassed Spring Lane to check for
smoke detectors and install them where
necessary. The targeted fire-prevention
effort is something the department has been
doing immediately after house fires,
Flanagan said.
“Rather be safe than sorry,” he said.
