By Brock Parker
The York Dispatch
Copyright 2007 York Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
SPRING GARDEN, Pa. — Drywall workers escaped a two-alarm fire at an unoccupied Spring Garden Township townhouse yesterday shortly before a propane tank exploded, firefighters said.
“I think they made a pretty quick exit,” said Spring Garden Township Fire Lt. Lee Sowers. “It’s a pretty good thing they did.”
Fire erupted at 4:23 p.m. at 1363 Fieldbrook Circle in the Regent’s Glen housing community when a propane heater used with the adhesive needed to install drywall developed a leak, Sowers said.
Workers fled the home, and fire quickly spread through the building, Sowers said. Sowers said he didn’t know how many workers had been inside.
Several construction workers who had been working at another home nearby in the developing housing community said they saw the flames and ran toward the Fieldbrook Circle home.
“All of a sudden it went kaboom; scared the mess out of me,” said Scot Morrill, a construction worker who had been working a different house in Regent’s Glen. “We ran across the street.”
Sowers said firefighters believe the bang came from the exploding propane tank inside the Fieldbrook Circle home.
Two other unoccupied townhouses were also damaged, according to township Fire Chief Barry Emig.
An attached home sustained water and other damage, and an unattached townhouse nearby sustained “substantial” damage, including burned siding and cracked windows, he said.
Emig said a rough damage estimate for all three homes is $400,000.
Flames also caused much of the two-story home to collapse, but Emig said firefighters were not inside when the roof came down, and no one was hurt.
Because the construction of the townhouse had not been completed, the wood frame was exposed and Emig said firefighters knew the building would be likely to burn faster than usual. Firefighters from five companies battled the blaze from outside the home.
A state police fire marshal is investigating.