Wind-whipped fire levels historic barn in Middletown
MIDDLETOWN >> Windwhipped flames destroyed a historic barn on the 400 block of Darlington Road Thursday evening .
The initial call was reported just before 5 p.m., reporting fire and smoke inside the barn and adjoining workshop.
Rocky Run firefighters were at a nearby wires call and arrived quickly to find fire showing. Firefighters stretched hoses for a water supply from a nearby pond but the water level was too low which forced them to lay line from a hydrant 1,000 feet away.
The fire brought out numerous departments from across Delaware and Chester counties as the windwhipped flames started brush fires which required a second alarm.
“I got here about 15 minutes after it started,” said Peter Moore, an owner of the property with his brother
Townsend. “The fire department was here but they ran out of water. It was going to be a total loss anyway. There was no way they could have saved it.”
Middletown Council Chairman Mark Kirchgasser credited the firefighters for saving the house which was just across the driveway, saying firefighters turned hoses from the burning barn to protecting the home.
“It is historic, and deed restricted. It was once part of stables for the Wawa Dairy,” Kirchgasser said.
Kirchgasser was critical of PECO for its slow response, saying it took the utility more than 90 minutes to secure the power. ”This put firefighters at risk for sure,” he said.
“It was a barn garage and wood-working shop, about 2,000 square feet. Luckily the horse were in the pasture so they were safe,” Moore said. “We think it was an electrical surge. It also caused problems in the house. All the components of the furnace were melted by the electrical surge into the house.”
Kirchgasser confirmed that officials are looking at a power surge as the cause of the blaze. He said a tree also came down on power lines on New Darlington Road.
By 6 p.m. the fire was under control but the damage was done. The barn, which was built in the 1800s, was a total loss. Friday morning showed little remained of the buildings excepted the burned-out frame of a tractor.
Fire investigators from the Pennsylvania State Police were involved in the investigation.