Fire damages Fourth Street home, puts family out
POTTSTOWN » A smoky fire damaged two halves of a Fourth Street twin home Wednesday afternoon.
The call came in at about 3:35 p.m., according to officers who were the first on the scene, and they said flames could be seen erupting out of the back of the house, which is located a few doors east of the intersection of Fourth and Manatawny streets.
No injuries were immediately reported.
Fire officials had not yet determined the cause of the fire as of press time, and deputy fire marshal Richard Lengel could be seen inspecting the interior rear of the home, the exact address of which is 38 W. Fourth St.
One of the residents, Randie Williams, said the rear of the house is where the kitchen is located. She said she had been cooking, before turning everything off and running out to pick up her children.
Williams said they had also been experiencing electrical issues at the home.
She and Jamal Lomax have only lived in the twin for four months.
“We got evicted illegally from a place in Royersford and never found out about it until they turned the water off,” Williams said.
“We only just got everything set up the way we wanted it,” Williams said.
Lomax said he was at work at Titan International metalworks on Queen Street when he found out about the fire.
“I don’t even think I clocked out or anything,” he said quietly as the two surveyed the damage from their backyard.
One fire truck from Upper Pottsgrove was parked in the alley between Third and Fourth streets, its hoses running into the backyard toward where the blaze began.
Out front, the street was closed off where trucks from Pottstown, Sanatoga, Ringing Hill and Limerick crowded the road.
Neighbors pressed against the yellow police tape, their cell phones shooting photos and video, while police officers worked to move them back away from the smoke that could be seen from two blocks away.
Firefighters broke out all the first-floor windows to let the smoke escape, as well as windows in the upper floors of both 38 and 40 W. Fourth Street, the other side of the twin.
Shards of glass littered the side yard between 38 and 32 W. Fourth Street by the time the firefighters were done and crunched beneath the feet of anyone walking there.
As the fire wound down, overheated firefighters peeled off their stifling protective gear and wrapped towels soaked in water from a neighbor’s hose around their neck and over their heads as water bottles were handed out.
A handful of firefighters crouched on the rear roof of 40 W. Fourth St., using pikes and a chain saw to pull up shingles and roofing to check for lingering flames beneath the surface.
Lomax and Williams stood in stunned silence in their rear yard, watching them work.
Lomax said they were hoping to get inside to grab a few things, maybe some clothes, but just as he said that they were approached by a volunteer who told that the Red Cross was trying to contact them to find them a place to stay.