A malfunctioning fan possibly caused a fire that destroyed a
modular home inside an industrial plant in Upper Leacock
Township Thursday night.
UPDATE: The factory reopened on Tuesday and production will be back to normal soon.
A final estimate of damage has not been determined for the
fire at Skyline Homes, 99 Horseshoe Road, Leola, PA Upper Leacock Fire Company
Chief Jared Nolt said Friday.
“It will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he
said. The fire is not suspicious and may have been caused by a large industrial
fan being used to dry the drywall in the home.
Skyline Homes makes campers and manufactured homes.
No one was inside the plant when the 11 p.m. blaze started
inside a 28-by-70-foot, one-story home, Nolt said. Flames spread throughout
half of the home, which was more than halfway constructed.
The home was a modular home because it only had wheels
underneath it to deliver it to the site, Nolt said. Mobile homes stay on a
frame and wheels.
The fire call was initially reported as an automatic fire
alarm, but was upgraded to a building fire when arriving units saw smoke coming
from the building. Damages are said to run more than $300,000,
About 100 firefighters extinguished the fire. They cut holes
in the roof and garage doors of the building to vent the heavy smoke.
Firefighters cut up the mobile home into pieces and removed
it from the building. Crews remained on the scene until early Friday morning.
No firefighters were injured but the bitter cold made
walking around treacherous, Nolt said. “The cold weather made it difficult
because water was turning to ice right away.”
Sprinklers and alarms at the plant helped prevent the fire
from spreading. Also, firefighters were responding to another fire a mile and a
half away and that allowed them to get to the Skyline Corp. fire more quickly,
Nolt said.
One modular home was destroyed and two others nearby were
damaged in the fire, he said. There is also smoke and water damage throughout
the facility.
“It was a very smoky fire,” Nolt said.
Nolt expects the plant will close for at least a few days so
it can be cleaned. He did not know how many work there. Skyline officials did
not immediately return a phone call for comment Friday morning.
CLICK HERE to read the full article
CLICK HERE to read the full article
1 comment:
I also do insurance repair work you are looking at a $1,000,000.00 at least. As for smoke damage that is worse than the fire damage. Who wants their new house smelling like smoke. Pretty much total anything in the plant.
Post a Comment