By Brad Rhen
The Lebanon Daily News
BETHEL, Pa. — A volunteer firefighter was injured while battling a smoky blaze in Berks County last night when he was hit by a pickup truck driven by a fire policeman.
The fire policeman, Robert R. Hummel, 70, was responding to a house fire at 9555-A Old Route 22 in Bethel about 6:40 p.m., when his vehicle struck 32-year-old Gerald L. Sholly, Bethel Township police said.
Hummel was driving eastbound on Old Route 22 east of Rye Alley when his pickup truck hit Sholly, who was helping to fight a fire on the north side of Old Route 22, according to police.
Sholly was taken by Community Ambulance Service of Bethel to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was treated for a leg injury and released, police said.
Sholly and Hummel are both members of the Union Fire Co., Bethel.
The fire, fanned by strong winds, shot from windows and created a smoky scene around the house as firefighters tried to extinguish it.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and a damage estimate has not been released, Union Fire Co. Assistant Chief Les Kegerreis said this morning.
“It was a total loss,” he said of the 21 2-story home and a large adjoining storage area.
Neighbors said a family of five and a man who is not related to the family lived in the home, according to a Reading newspaper. Kegerreis didn’t have their names available this morning.
No injuries were reported.
In addition to the Berks County units, Myerstown’s Goodwill, Kutztown, Mt. Zion and Fredericksburg fire companies and Myerstown ambulance also responded, according to Lebanon County dispatch logs.
Several Schuylkill County units also responded.
Crews were on the scene until about 12:30 a.m., Kegerreis said.
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