By Rachel Ravina
The Reporter
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Five people including two children were rescued early Tuesday morning as flames erupted amid a house fire on Cherry Street in Norristown, municipal officials said Tuesday.
Norristown firefighters were dispatched to reports of a fire around 4:46 a.m. on the second floor of a home along the 500 block of Cherry Street.
“We know that the fire started on the exterior building on the second floor ... and extended into the dwelling unit,” Norristown Fire Chief Tom O’Donnell told The Times Herald.
In a Facebook post, a representative from the Norristown Fire Department described the scene as fire burning a “large hole” in “the exterior decking,” as well as in “the walls and ceiling.” A municipal spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon that firefighters witnessed “heavy fire in the rear of the dwelling” as five occupants awaited rescue.
First responders raised a ground ladder to extricate three adults and two children from the building, O’Donnell said.
Four people were taken to the nearby Einstein Montgomery Hospital in East Norriton Township, according to O’Donnell, who added that one child was later transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, but his or her condition was unclear.
O’Donnell also noted “there was a tremendous amount of smoke,” which can pose serious health concerns for fire victims.
“It’s not fire [that] usually injures and kills civilians, it’s most of the time the smoke inhalation is what unfortunately is probably the leading cause of fire deaths here in America,” he said.
While the circumstances leading up to the incident were unclear, O’Donnell classified the cause as “undetermined,” but “not criminal in nature.”
It took nearly an hour for firefighters to extinguish the blaze, according to O’Donnell, who expressed his appreciation to the fellow mutual aid fire, police and emergency medical services partners.
“Thankfully enough, due to early detection of the fire, if it wasn’t for the neighbor reporting the fire, the fire would have unfortunately, probably grown in size and intensity,” O’Donnell said. “So we’re thankful for the early notification of the 911 system and ... credit to our firefighters or police officers, our paramedics for getting on scene as quickly as they did to get the fire under control and make the really important rescues of civilians who were trapped inside.”
(c)2024 The Reporter
Visit The Reporter at https://www.thereporteronline.com/
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
