Incident Detail: 1972 Call No. 01


1972
Call No.  1
Time Out
04/03/1972
?
Time In

?
Type
 Fire 
Location
 Cooper's Bakery 


No Photo Available for This Incident

April 3, 1972

Fire struck Coopers Bakery in Lykens. The bakery was well known in the area, having many home delivery trucks that covered routes as far away as Ashland and Pine Grove. The bakery portion of the bulding was destroyed, but a portion of the bulding which once housed a restaurant was saved because firemen cut open the roof of the building and held the fire at that spot. (probably the first use of a trench cut in Upper Dauphin County) During the fire, a wall collapsed injuring two firemen. Lykens and Wiconisco firefighters responded initially, but with a large fire and a poor water supply, help was needed. After several attempts to contact Dauphin County on the radio, the Engine 22 operator, Chal Welker, instructed a resident to go call the telephone operator and have them send Williamstown and Elizabethville to assist at the fire. (during this era, Dauphin County used only one frequency, 33.90, for all communications, sharing it with York, Lancaster, and Lebanon Counties.) The location of the call was adjacent to the Wiconisco Creek near the east end of the borough in a low area. Radio communications were poor at best. Water supply was supplemented by portable pumps set up at the creek. Chief 21, Charlie Wertz, told of being at the R&K Diner servicing a pinball machine when the regulars noticed the large cloud of smoke to the east. This was in the days before mutual aid automatically got called to assist.



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