Fire Rips Through Warehouse In Conshohocken, Destroys Businesses
By Cherri Gregg
CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (CBS) -- Fire crews battled a three-alarm fire complete with explosions and collapses early Sunday morning at a warehouse in Conshohocken.
Flames broke out around 3 a.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of Colwell Lane in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County.
For hours, thick smoke billowed from the building that housed Philadelphia Floor Store and Centex Blinds. Once a one-story structure, flames burned through reducing it to a shell.
"There were multiple collapses of structural walls inside and outside the building," says Plymouth Township Fire Chief Michael Burton, "including the roof."
Burton says petroleum-based chemicals inside the building likely caused multiple explosions, quickened the spread of the fire and caused excessive heat.
It took dozens of fire truck and more than a hundred firefighters from multiple townships to douse the flames. Burton says there were challenges controlling the fire.
"The size of the building and the fact that the fire was through the roof upon our arrival," he says. "Unfortunately, the fire was ahead of us, so we had to get set up. We did have some issues initially getting enough water, but we were able to get enough hose lines in the street and we were able to put enough water on it."
Both businesses were destroyed in the blaze.
Residents of the nearby neighborhood expressed gratitude to firefighters. No one was injured and no nearby homes were damaged.
