Firefighters from the City of Reading and Berks County battled a large row home fire Sunday evening in the 1000 block of North 11th Street in Reading.
Reading Fire Chief James Stoudt said the fire was initially reported in the basement of a single home. The report was quickly confirmed when firefighters first arrived to find heavy fire and smoke coming from the first floor rear and basement of the home.
Despite the best efforts of firefighters, the fire spread quickly to connecting homes, prompting fire officials to strike a 2nd, 3rd and eventually 4th alarm for more resources and manpower.
Overall, four homes sustained heavy damage due to the extensive fire. No injuries were initially reported among the buildings occupants or firefighters.
“These buildings are built that they have a common loft and common open void spaces, so in the end we had heavy fire in 4 dwellings” said Chief Stoudt. “Companies were up against it from the beginning, but did a fantastic job stopping it at 4 buildings and not having it spread anymore.”
It took several hours for crews to bring the fire under control. The cause is under investigation.
18 people were displaced due to the fire.
