One fatality confirmed in Leithsville Fire Station blaze ignited when dump truck slams into building - UPDATE

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2012/05/leithsville_fire_station_destr.html FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES At least one person was killed after a dump truck lost control and slammed into a Lower Saucon Township fire station, engulfing the structure in flames hot enough to melt the building’s steel roof, authorities say. Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said tonight the continuing investigation into the fiery crash into the Leithsville Fire Station revealed the possible involvement of multiple vehicles. Lysek declined further immediate comment. Township police at the crash deferred comment to Lysek. Sgt. Thomas Barndt, of the Lower Saucon Township police department, identified the driver of the truck as Michael Thomas. His age, hometown and condition were not clear. Firefighters from departments across Northampton County and beyond spent hours this afternoon battling the fire at the Leithsville Volunteer Fire Co. headquarters. Barndt said crews were dispatched at 12:55 p.m. for reports of a dump truck crashing into the Route 412 firehouse. Barndt was the first to respond and said the fire station was fully engulfed by that point. The driver, whose identity was not immediately released, was rushed to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill with burns. Barndt could not immediately say whether the injuries were life-threatening. No one was believed to be inside the firehouse at the time of the crash. The driver of the truck, hauling asphalt, is believed to have lost control traveling from Flint Hill Road onto Route 412, Barndt said. It was not immediately clear for what company the driver worked. Neighbors who were outside at the time of the wreck described a chaotic scene when they heard the deafening noise of the truck slamming into the building. Pennsylvania officials this week announced the official merger of Lower Saucon Township's Leithsville and Se-Wy-Co volunteer fire companies. Barndt will preside over the combined force. It’s unclear how or if this afternoon’s fire will affect the consolidation, due to go into full effect in June. Firefighters battle blaze at Leithsville Fire Station Firefighters battle blaze at Leithsville Fire Station Firefighters from departments across the county and beyond spent hours battling a fire at the Leithsville Volunteer Fire Co. Thursday afternoon when a dump truck lost control and slammed into the building, engulfing the structure in flames hot enough to melt the building’s steel roof. Watch video ‘Lucky to be alive’ Paul Getz Jr. lives three houses down from the station. He and his brother, Terrence Getz, of Nazareth, were working outside with friend Robert Hillegass, of Bethlehem, when the crash occurred. The men and neighbor June Schoenenberger rushed to the building, which they say was immediately in flames. The men described a dazed man staggering out of the building. “He came walking through the flames,” Terrence Getz said. “His arms were badly burned. He was lucky to be alive.” Schoenenberger said the sound of popping from explosions was harrowing. “Those pops and bangs ... that’s a sound I don’t ever want to hear again,” she said. Schoenenberger used Paul Getz’s phone to dial 911 as the men helped the victim cross the street and away from the burning building. Part of community Police say that while no one was in the station at the time of the crash, the department lost three trucks — a fire engine, brush truck and pumper truck — in the inferno. Barndt could not say if the building would have to be torn down, but after storms rolled through the area, a forklift had begun clawing at the structure’s walls, tearing down large swaths of siding as firefighters continued to quell hot patches still burning inside. About 20 feet into the darkened, twisted shell of the station was the rear of the dump truck that had careened into the building. Water sprayed the burned silhouettes of other trucks within the scorched interior of the station. For some in the neighborhood, the fire station was a staple of the community — for none more so, perhaps, than the family of former longtime Leithsville Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Mark Dieterly. Dieterly watched as crews battled the fire in the rear of the station, where the roof was beginning to buckle and warp. “Everything that the department used to run was in there,” he said. When asked what it was like to watch the scene unfold, Dieterly at first misunderstood. “Well, it’s hard to see inside with all the smoke,” he said. “Oh — you mean how’s it feel? Oh my god. I built this station.” Dieterly’s wife, Susan, and daughter, Sheila Meixsell, said they heard the sound of a truck’s brake and an air horn before the explosive sound of the dump truck crashing into the building. “It’s a common sound around here,” Susan Dieterly said of the braking. “A lot of trucks lose their brakes going down that hill,” she added about nearby Flint Hill Road. Meixsell worked hard to compose herself as she watched the black smoke billowing from the fire station. “I grew up in there,” she said, choking back tears. “That’s where I met my husband. That’s where we got married.”