Fire in vacant home under investigation
ALDAN » Questions remain following a fire that leveled a vacant home in Aston early morning Tuesday.
Collingdale Fire Co. No. 1 arrived at 1:45 a.m. to find the residence fully involved with flames spreading to a neighbor’s home next door in the first block of Bonsall Avenue in Aldan between West Providence Road and West Wayne Avenue.
Collingdale Fire Chief Michael Boyle said Wednesday the cause of the fire remains under investigation. It is being handled by Aldan Fire Inspector William J. Garrity and the Pennsylvania State Police.
When asked if the timing was suspicious for a vacant home to erupt in flames so early in the morning, Boyle responded that “a fire at a vacant property is always unusual no matter what time it happens,” while reiterating that the investigation is ongoing.
Fortunately for neighbors, they were able to avoid danger and escaped outside as the Collingdale ladder truck initial task was to halt the fire from spreading to the adjacent exposure.
No sooner did various companies begin to arrive did the vacant residence suffer a partial collapse and become a dangerous, extended burn that lasted until the morning.
“We deemed it exterior-operations only. It wasn’t safe to enter any part of the dwelling,” Boyle said.
Boyle said that Collingdale Fire Cos. No. 1, No. 2 and Darby Fire Co. were the first to arrive on the scene, followed soon by Glenolden and Springfield. On the additional alarm, Folcroft, Clifton Heights, Drexel Hill, Yeadon, Lansdowne and Delaware County Hospital paramedics arrived to suppress the flames in a four and a half hour operation.