By Stephanie Weaver
The Intelligencer Journal/New Era
DENVER, Pa. — When Matt Grant saw raging flames threatening his neighbor’s home in Denver, he did what he could.
Which was a big help, because, unlike many neighbors, Grant owns a firetruck.
Seven local fire companies fought a house fire Saturday morning, while Grant and his antique engine kept the blaze from spreading to the home next door.
Grant lives across the street from the house that burned. The fire destroyed Ron and Jean Worline’s house at 156 E. Lancaster Ave., but Grant prevented additional damage by spraying down a neighboring home with his 1972 Mack engine.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Grant usually keeps his engine in a barn in Washington Boro, but he had it in Denver to prepare for the Pennsylvania Pump Primers 34th annual Antique Fire Apparatus Show and Muster, which was held Saturday in Harrisburg.
He parked the engine in his driveway two hours before the fire started.
Not only was the 23-year-old able to get to the house immediately after the call, but he also had about 750 gallons of water left in the truck. Grant said that amount provides only a minute’s worth of water, but it was enough to wet down the house next door until the Denver Fire Company arrived.
Grant is a member of Denver Fire Company.
“I got the call and heard that the address was across the street,” Grant said. “I walked out the back door and saw the flames blowing out at the neighbor’s house.”
Grant knew he would not be able to do much for the Worlines’ home. But he saw the Lynams’ home was in danger.
“I wanted to save what was savable,” he said.
He maneuvered the truck between the two houses and told the Lynams to close their windows before he began spraying down their home.
Denver Fire Company arrived minutes later.
“I did a double take,” Assistant Chief Harold Martzall said. He said he knew Grant lived in the neighborhood of the fire, but he didn’t expect the antique truck to be on the scene.
While the fire companies focused on the raging flames at the Worlines’ home, Grant kept watch over the Lynams’ house. Once the fire was controlled, he was able to shut down.
His truck had done its job.
“Harold told me if I wouldn’t have done that, it would have most likely caught fire,” Grant said of the Lynams’ house.
This was the first time Grant used the engine for a fire. He typically only drives it in parades or to Pump Primers events.
“I wouldn’t go out and take (the truck) on a normal call and only did because it’s across the street,” Grant said. “It was really a by-chance incident.”
Grant bought the truck about 18 months ago when he volunteered with the Millersville Fire Company while attending Millersville University. It originally ran with Englewood’s Friendship Fire Company in Schuylkill County.
“I always liked firetrucks, so I decided to buy it,” Grant said.
Mack no longer manufactures engines, but in its day it was “the best you could get,” Martzall said.
Despite its antique status, the engine’s quality and durability shone through Saturday.
“That thing was definitely built to work,” Grant said.
After the early-morning heroics, Grant and his engine earned the fastest draft award at the Pump Primers that afternoon for engines with 1,000 gallons per minute and over. The award is given to the engine that pumps the most water from the Susquehanna River in a set time.
The Worlines, awakened by a smoke alarm, escaped the fire, with Jean sustaining a minor burn on her wrist. The house, however, was destroyed, resulting in $440,000 in damages, Martzall said Sunday.
The cause is undetermined, but Martzall said there will be no further investigation.
When the call came in at 2:31 a.m., Martzall said, it was reported as a working garage fire. However, by the time he arrived on scene, the fire was on every floor and through the roof.
Fire companies controlled the blaze in 51 minutes, but had to stay on the scene for about five hours. Adamstown, Reamstown, Reinholds, Schoeneck and Stevens fire companies and Ephrata Area Rescue Services assisted Denver.
“I’ve been running for 30 years, and ... we’ve never had any that had that much damage,” Martzall said of the fire.
Copyright 2009 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.