A clay stove pipe overheated, catching a Tilden Township home on fire on Jan. 10.
Fire crews responded to a fire call at 753 Hex Highway in Tilden Township on Jan. 10 about 1:45 p.m.
“When I came on, I was one of the first on scene, it came out the side of the house and was going up the side of the wall outside and also going up the side of the wall inside the house,” said Hamburg Fire Chief Arthur Miller of Union Fire Company of Hamburg.
The residents were home at the time of the fire.
“They were trying to put it out when I got there,” said Miller.
Miller declared a second alarm.
“I needed more man power to control the fire inside the building,” he said.
Eight fire companies were on scene: Hamburg, Shoemakersville, Virginville, Shartlesville, Strausstown, Bernville, Port Clinton, and Schuylkill Haven.
“The ones that came on the scene did a great job. They knocked it down pretty quick,” said Miller. “It did not branch out to the rest of the house, it was just in that one section of the house.”
The home is heated by a wood-burning stove. Miller said the cause of the fire was the terra cotta (clay) pipe going through the wall of the house overheated and caught the wooden house on fire.
“They get pretty hot with a wood fire,” said Miller, noting that the clay pipe was not insulated properly. “Should have used stainless steel pipe surrounded by some kind of insulation.”
Miller did not know the extent of damage at this time, but did say most of the damage was sustained on the one side of the house at the fire’s origin. There was also water and smoke damage. An estimated cost of damage is unknown at this time.
There were no injuries. The fire displaced the family; the building has no heat and no electric.
“We had the Red Cross come in to take care of the family,” said Miller.
The fire marshal will investigate.
