TRAILERS BURN IN CLOSE CALL
Firefighters respond to a two-alarm blaze at the Lehigh Valley Dairy site in Whitehall Township, which spewed smoke into a column visible miles away. Three trailers burned, but the fire did not spread to the main property, despite firefighters’ problems getting water.
A man burning cardboard and wood on the Lehigh Valley Dairy property in Whitehall Township sparked a fire that consumed three truck trailers and could have been far worse, officials said.
The fire at the MacArthur Road property, which is under redevelopment, broke out a little before 2 p.m., churning up clouds of black smoke that could be seen as far as Emmaus and Bethlehem.
Whitehall fire Chief Dave Nelson said the man, an employee of the property owner, tried to douse the flames with an extinguisher.
When firefighters arrived, they had to clear heavy brush from the closest hydrant, only to find it wasn’t working.
The Allentown Fire Department dispatched a tanker truck, which arrived within minutes. Nelson said the short wait was agonizing because the fire threatened to spread to the long-vacant building. That would have made the fire especially dangerous, because the structure is in bad shape.
“We’re just standing here, but we can’t do anything because we don’t have the water,” Nelson said.
The Allentown truck dumped all its water on the blaze, as did a parade of other tankers from departments around the Lehigh Valley.
The fire was largely under control within an hour. One firefighter went to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest with abdominal pains but is expected to be fine.
“This could have been a lot worse,” Nelson said.
Abandoned for 30 years, the 10-acre property has become an eyesore and a greatly underused tract of land along one of the busiest economic corridors in the Lehigh Valley. It was purchased in 2019 by Joseph Elias and his son, Gus, who are known for their regional grocery markets, and subdivided.
The portion affected by the fire is owned by Gohkan Cicek, Nelson said, adding that outdoor burning is prohibited in Whitehall Township so a summons will likely be issued.
A man at the scene who identified himself as the owner but declined to give his name, saying he was too distraught, said the property was slated for redevelopment but no construction was going on.
On the township’s southern boundary with Allentown, the dairy property was once a jewel, having been converted from a silk mill to a dairy in 1934. It featured a retail dairy bar and auditorium, which was often used to host Whitehall High School graduations.
In January 1989, Lehigh Valley Dairies, as it was then known, laid off all but 50 of the 270 employees at the Whitehall plant, before abandoning the building later that year.