I don't know why I feel the need to introduce myself everytime I post on here, but this is Ken (2nd Camera for the Branchville Series, NIH and District Heights, and Designer Type Guy). Around 1100 hours last night my local company was dispatched for a reported roof fire in a neghboring borough - our Truck (Pierce Mid-Mount Tower) responded with a full crew of 6 (me being one of the 6).

A local bowling alley was fully involved on arrival, our crew set up our tower and began aerial operations flowing water fed to us by 2 engines. Reports and staff of the bowling center confirmed the building was empty and being the bow roof construction and large void space within the structure all fire atttack was exterior. The weakened roof collapsed within minutes, our Truck Company's main objective was to help control the burn and protect any exposed neighboring units on the Alpha Delta corner.

After climbing down from the tower on a crew rotation I was able to pull out my phone and snap off a few pictures. The picture above is our aerial operation flowing water on the roof in attempts to control the fire and keep it from destroying neighboring businesses and houses.

Above is a photo of the building after we were able to bring the flames under control, you can see the glow of the massive fire raging within the void spaces through the front door and behind the shingles of the roof. Within seconds of taking this picture the entire front of the building was overcome with fire and eventually needed to be torn down. Picture below is from my return to the tower to help flood the structure in case of flare-ups, excavation equipment was brought in to bring the remains down and help clear the site. The bowling center, kitchen and pro shop were a total loss.

Crews were on-scene for approx. 6 1/2 hours.

Stay safe, Ken!