(Courtesy of Gloucester Daily Times)
By JOHN ENOS
Local firefighters needed assistance from Rockport and Manchester fire crews during two emergencies Saturday night.
While most of the department battled a two-alarm house fire in East Gloucester, others responded to the rupture of a liquid propane gas tank that forced the evacuation of 10 homes in Riverdale.
A passing motorist spotted smoke coming from the roof of David Krebs' house at 19 Bass Ave. and alerted four occupants who were unaware of the fire.
Krebs, whose telephone was dead, ran to a neighbor's house to call for help shortly before 10:45.
"When we got there, there was smoke rolling off the ceiling," said Capt. Miles Schlichte this morning.
Men from central headquarters carried two hoses up to separate hallways on the second floor, but intense heat prevented them from entering the attic. Six face masks worn by firefighters were damaged beyond repair, said Schlichte.
The crew of Ladder 2 used chainsaws to open the rear of the building to release the buildup of heat and smoke.
Firefighters from neighborhood stations who responded to the second alarm helped enter the attic to extinguish the flames that heavily damaged to top floor and the roof.
The lower floors and their contents also sustained damage from water and smoke, according to Schlichte's report.
Firefighters suspect the fire started in wooden structures surrounding an exhaust pipe for a wood stove.
While that battle was in progress, a crew from Rockport had come to headquarters on School Street as part of the communities' mutual aid program.
Around 11:30, they received a phone call that a pick-up truck had knocked over into a 350-gallon tank of liquid propane gas at 482R Washington St.
The brakes failed in a truck Philip Peterson was backing into the driveway. Peterson, whose family owns the property, knocked over the tank, rolled back and crashed up against a tree. He was not seriously hurt.
When firefighters arrived, Rockport Capt. Jack Porter saw gas leaking from the tank and a severed service line. Wind was also blowing vapor toward other houses in the area.
Police assisted in evacuating residents from 10 homes and also rerouted traffic around Reynard and Stanwood streets.
A Massachusetts Electric repair crew cut off the electricity because the gas is highly flammable, reported Deputy Fire Chief Steven Aiello.
All off-duty Gloucester firefighters were called back on duty to assist the crews of Engine 6 and Ladder 2. Firefighters from Manchester joined in pouring three streams of water to reduce the vapor.
His men could not reach the valve to shut off the liquid gas because it was under the overturned tank, Aiello reported.
Repairmen from the Eastern Propane Gas Co. and Merlin Hunt of Tally's towing used equipment to lift the tank.
