The News-Item
MOUNT CARMEL, Pa. — Borough Fire Chief James Reed has some burns in his airway and is being transferred to the burn unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital, his son, James Jr. reported through Facebook this afternoon.
The younger Reed wrote, “Thanks for the thoughts and good wishes. I know everyone is worried about him.”
Reed Sr. was carried unconscious from a burning home along South Walnut Street earlier today. By the time he was transported across town to meet up with Life Flight helicopter at a landing site at Mount Carmel Area High School, he was conscious and talking to emergency responders, borough police chief Todd Owens said in updating the situation at about 2:30 p.m.
In fact, Owens said, the chief was concerned about the continuing firefighting effort, asking if the fire had been knocked down yet.
Elysburg Ambulance personnel had Reed intubated and were “pacing him with a heart monitor,” Owens said.
Reed is a longtime firefighter in the borough and president of American Hose and Chemical Fire Company, one of the borough’s fire companies.
The ambulance that transported Reed to the school had left the fire scene about 1:15 p.m.
Reed had been carried on a gurney from one of the burning homes, with emergency responders performing CPR outside the house.
Shortly before that, a “may day” call had gone out over emergency communications, indicating a firefighter in distress.
Firefighters from throughout the region are battling the three-alarm fire, which has torn through at least six homes in the 200 block of South Walnut Street. As of about 2:45 p.m., the fire was under control but still burning.
Borough police Cpl. Chris Buhay said 11 people are displaced. One home was for sale and some are rental units, he said.
Buhay said he was one of the first on scene and there was a lot of black smoke when he got there. He said it appeared the fire started at 217 S. Walnut, which is where firefighters were initially dispatched by emergency communications at about 11:40 a.m.
Buhay said he wasn’t aware of anything “outrageous” as far as the cause of the fire is concerned. But there’s no doubt it was big and prompted an equally large response.
“In my 20-year career, I haven’t seen this many apparatus in Mount Carmel for a fire,” he said.
Apparatus came from as far away as Espy and Mahonoy City, Buhay said. Also, apparatus from Warrior Run and Middleburg units were seen traveling through Kulpmont around 2:30 p.m, lights and sirens activate, although it’s not known at this moment if they were responding to local stations to serve in a standby status or went to the scene.Reports indicate all residents escaped from the homes.
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