UPDATE: Fast-Moving, Three-Alarm Blaze Damages Six Row Homes

UPDATED: 10:12 a.m., Tuesday:

A fast-moving blaze damaged six rowhomes in Bristol Borough Tuesday morning, displacing as many as a dozen residents.

The fire was reported at 6:03 a.m. in the 600 block of Spruce Street in the borough. Thick black smoke from the fire was visible from Route 13 and I-95.

Firefighters from Bristol Borough and Bristol Township quickly arrived to find flames shooting from the homes. Additional alarms were struck within minutes.

“First arriving companies found heavy fire on all three floors. They went in service with hose lines. We eventually went to a second alarm and then to a third alarm,” Bristol Borough Fire Chief Herb Slack said.

The chief said the units all have connected space in the knee walls and that led to the fire quickly spreading through the row of homes.

“We were able to cut it off, and it took a lot of effort,” Slack said. “It’s manpower intensive to get into each one of those dwellings with a hose line and have people actually open up the ceilings and open up the walls to check for the fire.”

Slack wasn’t aware of any serious injuries.

It wasn’t clear as of 8 a.m. how many people were displaced, but residents said the number was at least a dozen.

Fire officials directed those impacted to a nearby church where Bristol Borough Emergency Management was set up. The American Red Cross of Eastern Pennsylvania was responding to assist.

Slack said the cause of the fire was being investigated by the Bucks County Fire Marshal’s Office.

The damage to the six rowhomes varied, but several were badly damaged, the chief said.

The blaze brought firefighters from around Lower Bucks County to Bristol Borough to fight the flames.

Chris Kerner was in one of the homes with five family members when the blaze broke out.

“The adrenaline popped in and I just woke my family up and got them out,” Kerner said, adding his dog was also saved.

For Kerner, Tuesday’s fire brought back bad memories of a 2013 Falls Township fire that he was in. The blaze took the life of his grandfather.

“The last one was when I was younger. It hurts,” he said.

Original Story:

Firefighters from around Lower Bucks County were battling a blaze in row homes in Bristol Borough as of 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

The fire was first reported around 6 a.m. and was impacting more than one row home in the 600 block of Spruce Street in the borough.

Fire trucks from around the area screamed toward the scene and firefighters dumped water on the home.

Additional crews were called to the scene to assist with firefighting efforts just past 6:30 a.m.

Ambulances were stationed at the scene, but it was unclear if anyone was hurt.

More details to follow.

Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies

---

---