By Amy Crawford
The Tribune-Review
SEWICKLEY TWP., Pa. — Frozen hydrants hindered firefighters early Tuesday as a fast-moving blaze destroyed a Sewickley Township auto repair shop.
Geiger’s Auto Sales and Service on Sunshine Road near Herminie caught fire just after 4 a.m., emergency officials said. The building was a total loss.
“It went pretty quick,” said Frank Fiyme, who lives across the street and watched the fire spread from a back corner of the building. “They were throwing down the hoses, but it moved fast. It was fully engaged in 20 minutes.”
While there is a fire hydrant about 50 feet away from the building, Herminie fire Chief Eric Kline said that once firefighters had dug through snow to reach it, they found the water had frozen. Another nearby hydrant also was frozen, forcing them to rely on one about 2,000 feet away, along with tanker trucks that shuttled water from up to a mile away.
“With this type of weather, that’s what you have to deal with,” Kline said. “Once we established water, it took about 25 minutes (to put out the fire). By that point, it was pretty well off.”
Firefighters covered the smoldering remnants of the fire with foam, Kline said, but a crew had to return in the late morning to extinguish a few remaining hot spots after passersby noticed flames.
By afternoon, smoke could still be seen rising through twisted steel girders. The smell of burnt tires hung in the air, and inside the ruins a charred minivan was buckled over a lift.
Owner Johnny Geiger said a customer’s vehicle and two collectible cars were destroyed along with the structure. The business, which Geiger had operated since 1991, was insured.
Kline said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
With another snow storm on the way, Kline worried that firefighters would continue to face difficult conditions.
“I urge the residents of Sewickley Township, if at all possible, if they have a hydrant near their house to at least dig it out,” he said.
Murrysville fire Chief Al Dover seconded Kline’s request. A fire Monday afternoon destroyed a home under construction in the municipality, and Dover said firefighters discovered that one of two hydrants near the site was buried in snow.
“Even just getting to the hydrants that are covered by two to three feet of snow, somebody could have any type of injury,” he said. “We’re asking people, if you know you have a hydrant, go out and dig it out.”
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