FIRE, EXPLOSIONS DESTROY BUILDING

Classic cars stored inside building also destroyed

A multialarm fire destroyed a steel commercial building and its contents at 56 Edge Hill Road Saturday afternoon.

Huge plumes of thick, black smoke rose hundreds of feet in the air and could be seen for miles throughout eastern Berks County, western Montgomery County and northern Chester County.

The owner of the property told fire officials at the scene that there were eight classic cars stored inside the structure, according to Jeff Bealer, public information officer for Boyertown Area Fire & Rescue.

All the vehicles were destroyed.

Multiple explosions shooting flames high into the air were seen by the first arriving fire units, Bealer said.

At least one other classic car and more than 20 55-gallon drums exploded and burned outside the building.

The structure and its contents were a total loss.

The intense heat from the fire melted vinyl siding on the main house on the property about 100 feet away.

Additional fire units from

Montgomery and Chester counties were called to assist with the main fire while flames spread to a wooded area near a second home. Firefighters managed to contain the fire before it could damage the second home.

There were no reports of injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA A fireball erupts at the scene of a multi-alarm fire that destroyed a steel commercial building on a property in the unit block of Edge Hill Road in Douglass (Berks) Township late Saturday afternoon.

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Smoke from the Douglass (Berks) fire could be seen for miles.

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA In addition to the steelframe structure, several classic cars stored inside were destroyed by the fire.