5 Firefighters Injured, 30 Residents Displaced By Middletown Apartment Fire
By Jim Melwert, Nicole Brewer
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) - Five firefighters were injured and 30 people left homeless by an overnight blaze that firefighters say was sparked by lightning.
The roof of the building is destroyed, and there is damage to more than a dozen units at the Windsor at Harper's Crossing Complex in Langhorne.
Steve Wollmer lives in a neighboring building and says, around 10 p.m., he was on his deck watching the storm when he saw, heard and felt the lightning strike.
"This one hit, and you knew it was simultaneous, with the flash and the explosion. And then shortly thereafter we started hearing sirens, and didn't realize it was here within the complex, but it got fully engaged very quickly."
Residents did get out safely, but while fighting the blaze, five volunteer fire fighters were hurt, taken to local hospitals with injuries ranging from burns to heat exhaustion to smoke inhalation.
The four-alarm fire was finally brought under control around 1 a.m.
Dave Schrader with the Red Cross says they're assisting several families displaced by the fire.
"Right now, we're helping several families get medications in time for the morning. We're going to help them get those refilled because they ran out of their apartments without it. We're here to help wherever we're needed. Whenever there's a fire around the city, around the suburbs, the Red Cross is there to make sure people have a place to stay."
The Red Cross is assisting about 30 residents.
