A fire reported to the Lehigh County 911 Center shortly before noon Jan. 6 went to four alarms and brought more than 50 fire, rescue, medical and hazardous materials personnel to 3111 Lehigh St., near the Salisbury Township and Allentown City border, for a blaze destroying the Jiffy Lube auto center.

Incident command officer Jason Faryniak, deputy chief of Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Department, said the fire started in the area of a gas-powered heating unit in the eastern-most bay of the four-bay shop. The service area was destroyed and the office area was heavily damaged. "The structure will probably have to be razed," Faryniak said.

Salisbury Fire Marshal Donald Sabo, a Salisbury Police Department sergeant, was suited up in his fire gear and helped Emmaus firefighters, who were on the first engine at the scene, to get a hoseline up a scaling ladder to get at flames at the rear of the structure where flames had broken through the roof.

The flames were quickly consuming the roof as a Western Salisbury engine and aerial ladder truck arrived. Faryniak quickly called for a second alarm, and then a third, to bring more units and fire personnel to the scene.

Allentown and Salisbury Township police shut down Lehigh Street to allow space for additional emergency units and to facilitate fire fighting efforts.

WSFD firefighters were on the department's aerial ladder at the roofline and other firefighters had scaled the roof on the opposite end of the structure when Faryniak ordered all the engines at the scene to sound their air horns to signal a retreat because of the intensity of the fire and the nature of the petroleum products in the structure.

All subsequent firefighting efforts were from the ground and remotely from the WSFD aerial ladder and aerial platform trucks from the South Whitehall Fire Department's Cetronia station and the Lower Macungie Fire Department.

Faryniak reported the fire under control shortly before 2 p.m.

In addition to Western Salisbury, Eastern Salisbury, Emmaus, Lower Macungie and Cetronia fire stations, firefighters responded from Upper Saucon Township, Trexlertown and Vera Cruz.

Water supply lines stretched from remote hydrants to supplement the hydrant directly across Lehigh Street from Jiffy Lube.

Alburtis and Greenawalds fire departments sent rapid intervention rescue teams to stand by in case firefighters got into trouble, and medical personnel from Macungie, Emmaus and Cetronia Ambulance Corps had personnel on scene to aid any injured first responders.

Kost Tire and Auto Service, which opened recently at 3117 Lehigh St., adjacent to Jiffy Lube, provided a warming center for firefighters as temperatures dropped Monday afternoon, and Macungie Ambulance personnel provided rehab services to check vital signs of firefighters laboring in heavy protective gear.

Woodlawn Fire Department sent an air cascade truck and crew to replenish depleted air canisters for firefighters using self-contained breathing apparatus because of heavy petroleum smoke at the fire scene.

A bus from LANTA was brought in to provide an additional warming area for emergency personnel as a cold front approached and sent temperatures tumbling.

Personnel from Lehigh County's special hazardous materials operations team were on hand to direct the placement of absorbent material to keep a sheen of water-borne oil, coming from melting containers inside the facility, from getting into storm sewer drains.

No firefighters were injured fighting the fire, and Faryniak praised the teamwork of firefighters responding to the mutual aid calls as multiple alarms were sounded for additional personnel.

The fourth alarm also provided for remote units from Fountain Hill and South Whitehall to stand by for Salisbury firefighters and equipment involved at the Lehigh Street location.

Fire Marshal Donald Sabo said Jan. 10 the investigation into the precise cause of the fire would be ongoing and involve fire officers from several departments working at the scene.

Sabo indicated the investigation would probably take several weeks to conclude.