Firefighters battle Saturday night downtown fire amid snowstorm

Firefighters and first responders from throughout Lebanon County braved falling snow and sub-freezing conditions to battle a multi-alarm blaze that broke out around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, in the 800 block of Cumberland Street in downtown Lebanon.

The involved buildings were in a dense row of attached commercial structures along the north side of downtown’s main street.

Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services logs show that the first alarm for a “Multi Dwelling” fire at 831 Cumberland St. came in at 9:37 p.m.

Second, third, and fourth alarms and a call for “replacement units” followed quickly at 9:43, 10:16, and 10:43 p.m.

Lebanon city fire chief A.J. Sweitzer was still on the scene at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, and he spoke to LebTown across Cumberland Street from the smoldering storefronts.

“845 [Cumberland] was the building of origin,” Sweitzer said. “845 goes straight back and wraps behind [the adjacent buildings to the east] and forms a back building. The back building is where the fire originated, in the basement.”

Sweitzer did not know the cause of the fire when he spoke to LebTown.

Simone Associates, a photography and video business, is listed at the 845 Cumberland St. address. Sweitzer was uncertain of the back building’s use, but told LebTown he believed it contained “studios.”

Sweitzer said “the back building is a complete loss. Everything fell into the basement.”

Attempts to reach the owners of Simone Associates were unsuccessful as of publication time.

Sweitzer added that with the fire originating in the basement, firefighters were initially unable to determine its source.

“We were unable to gain access to the basement because the fire had already developed before anybody was aware of it, so we were behind the 8-ball quickly and had to force entry into multiple storefronts to try to figure out where it was coming from.”

Fire damage to the exteriors of 831 through 847 Cumberland St. was clearly visible early Sunday morning, as some firefighters and ambulance personnel remained on the scene.

Other businesses appearing to be damaged are Seniors Helping Seniors and Iron Valley Real Estate, both on the first floor of the Nitrauer Building at 831-835 Cumberland St.

Two firefighters were injured battling the blaze, according to Sweitzer. One was transported to Penn State Hershey Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries and was in stable condition as of 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The other refused treatment.

Sweitzer was not aware of any other injuries, and told LebTown that approximately 14 people and two animals escaped uninjured from the apartments in the upper floors of the involved buildings.

More photos of the blaze and morning-after damage can be found on photographer Scott Church‘s Facebook page.

Responding units