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MULTI ALARM STRUCTURE FIRE
BETHANY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Market Street near Second Street Pocomoke
A before Pic
On March 2, 2005 at 1856 Hours, Pocomoke Volunteer Fire Company was alerted for a reported structure fire at the church at the corner of Market Street and Second Street. Pocomoke City Police Department was first on location at 1857 hours and located heavy smoke coming from the south side of Bethany United Methodist Church.
Chief Landon of Pocomoke Fire Co arrived on scene and established incident command at 1902 hours. The first arriving Pocomoke Engine (102) gained entry through the doors located on the south side of the building. Interior crews reported very heavy smoke conditions throughout the structure and had trouble locating the seat of the fire. Interior crews that had entered from the south side of the building exited and crews entered from the north side of the structure, to attempt to gain access to a basement where the fire was believed to be seated. Chief Landon requested assistance from surrounding companies which eventually brought Stockton (200) Girdletree (300) Snow Hill (400) and Greenbackville, VA (2) to the scene. The fire quickly spread up the older construction of the building into the roof. Fire broke through the rear of the structure and seeing an impending roof collapse, all interior crews were evacuated by the "horns" at 1934 hours. Crews began a defensive attack with Pocomoke Tower 1 on the north side and Greenbackville Truck 2 on the south side. Master streams also operated at the front of the structure. Five inch LDH was laid from the scene to the Pocomoke River where Girdletree Pumper Tanker 301 pumped from the dry hydrant to the scene, over 2 blocks away.
The fire was seated deep into the building and the roof had collapsed to the second floor, making access to the fire impossible. An excavator was requested due to the instability of the structure and WT Brittingham and Son's responded and knocked down the south, west, and north walls of the structure.
The fire was declared under control and command terminated at 0152 hours. Pocomoke Tower 1 remained on scene throughout most of the early morning, to knock out the flare ups. The scene was turned over to the Worcester County Fire Marshall's Office who are investigating the fire in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Units on scene were:
Station 100 Pocomoke: Engines 101, 102, 103; Tower 1, Rescue 1, Brush 1, and Command 1.
Station 200 Stockton: Engine 202 and Rescue 1
Station 300 Girdletree: Pumper Tanker 301 and Utility 380
Station 400 Snow Hill: Engine 405 and Rescue 1
Station 2 Greenbackville (VA): Truck 2 and Rescue 2.
Units Transferred for Standby were:
Station 500 Newark transferred to Station 400 Snow Hill for stand-by with Engine 505 and Brush 1.
Station 4 Atlantic (VA) transferred to Station 2 Greenbackville (VA).
Station 5 Princess Anne (Somerset, MD) transferred to Pocomoke