Festivus Friday, December 23rd turned out to be quite busy for many Berks fire companies including Mt. Penn. Due to the high winds and well below freezing temperatures there were plenty of calls for everybody involving trees on wires, power outages, trees down on roads, a few crashes and some structure fires. Mt. Penn was out on a dozen calls Friday. The most serious was shortly before 7:30p.m when the engine and ladder were sent to 306 S. 6th St. in Reading City for a 3rd alarm structure fire. The first arriving crews had heavy fire with extension to the buildings on either side and the second alarm was quickly struck. Frozen hydrants, along with the icy temperatures and wind caused further issues as the water immediately froze to everything, ladders, roads, SCBA etc. The 3rd alarm was struck for additional manpower to assist. Mt. Penn crews assisted with extinguishing pockets of fire and performing overhaul. Command began releasing the county units shortly after 10p.m. The exact cause of this fire is under investigation by the Fire Marshal’s office.
