NICHOLSON, WYOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Firefighters were put to the test on Wednesday while battling fire and ice in a house fire in Wyoming County.
It was 0° at the start of the fire, making the firefight more difficult than your average fire.
28/22 News Reporter Julie Dunphy shows us what they did to stay safe.
A plume of smoke billowed Wednesday morning from the roof of a Wyoming County home.
Multiple fire departments were called to the home on the 300 block of Main Street in Nicholson around 8:00 a.m.
"I got reports we had fire out the windows. There was enough fire in the downstairs that the second floor was burning so we couldn't get anyone in there because we were afraid of a collapse," said Nicholson Fire Company Fire Chief Ted Roberts.
Fire Chief Ted Roberts says it was a challenging fire with brutal cold conditions and water supply issues as well.
That prompted the call for help from 16 different departments in Wyoming and Lackawanna Counties.
"Everybody was cold and tired, so I just kept bringing people in for backup, just to give everybody a break. I don't want nobody hurt, nobody frozen," Chief Roberts explained.
When firefighters got cold, they were sent to warming stations and had other crews come in and work.
"I know we were at zero when we came into town this morning when we first got on scene," said Pennsylvania Ambulance Operations Manager Bruce Beauvais.
Scranton fire chief explains how crews adapt to freezing temps
Beauvais was also called to the fire to provide heating and warm fluids, standing by in the off chance a firefighter needed resuscitation for cold or hypothermia.
"The firefighters when they are working in these conditions and the water is falling onto their turnout gear it freezes instantly, you'll see firefighters come out looking like an icicle," Beauvais explained.
The radio on the Fleetville Firefighter's turnout gear was covered in ice.
Officials say no one was home when the fire started and the family is now displaced.
There's no word yet on the cause of the fire. A State Police Fire Marshal is investigating.
