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Family Escapes Injury in House Fire

Firefighters called the family "quick thinking" as they evacuated and called 911 to prevent further damage.

 

Editor's note: This article was updated at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

An electrical fire has displaced a Reading family for at least one night. But thanks to the quick thinking residents, the incident wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Reading Fire Cpt. Kenneth Campbell said a family was inside of its Grove Street home on Sunday afternoon when they smelled smoke coming from near their front door.

The home’s smoke detectors went off and the family was able to rapidly call 911 and evacuate to their yard, awaiting the arrival of firefighters.

Though the flames spread through the attic and smoke was showing through the roof when the Fire Department arrived around 3:23 p.m., firefighters quickly extinguished the fire.

Firefighters cut electricity to the house and were forced to use a ladder truck to cut a hole in the roof to work on the fire. By about 3:30 p.m., the flames were knocked down and companies went to work overhauling.

"They’ll have to find somewhere else to stay tonight, but it’s very fixable," said Campbell. "Thankfully it was caught in time, and the family inside was home to call 911."

Campbell said the cause of the fire was not completely determined as of Sunday night, but that it was likely electrically based.

"It was very quick thinking on the family’s part," said Campbell. "None of them were hurt and no firefighters were hurt, so in that sense it went well."

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Related Topics: Breaking News, Grove Street Fire, House Fire, and Reading Fire Department

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