A fire that heavily damaged a portion of a residence at 1405 Susquehanna St. in Salisbury Township Jan. 23, went to three alarms because of the difficulty of access to the home and because of the need for manpower while many area volunteer firefighters were still at work and not available to respond.

Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company Chief Joshua Wells was first on scene at the fire, which was reported shortly before 4 p.m.. Wells assumed incident command, and called for a second alarm because of the active fire. Because of sparse manpower available on the first Eastern Salisbury engine, Wells geared up to go into the structure to assess the situation and direct interior firefighting efforts. Western Salisbury Deputy Chief Dave Xander arrived on the first Western Salisbury engine and assumed command.

When it quickly became obvious extra manpower would be needed because many area volunteers were unavailable to respond, Xander called for a third alarm, with 10 mutual aid fire companies eventually working at the scene.

Firefighting efforts were hampered because the residence is set back and elevated from Susquehanna Street and access was difficult.

Realizing that busy Susquehanna Street would have to be closed and rush hour was approaching, Wells asked the county 911 Center to dispatch fire police from Eastern and Western Salisbury fire companies, and from Emmaus and Lower Milford fire stations to divert traffic around the scene.

Firefighters responded from Western Salisbury, Eastern Salisbury, Fountain Hill, Se-Wy-Co, Emmaus, Woodlawn, Limeport, Upper Saucon, Lower Macungie and the City of Allentown. Units were on the scene until about 7 p.m.

An ambulance from St. Luke’s University Hospital was on scene and Macungie Ambulance Corps’ Incident Support unit provided rehab services for firefighters. One firefighter was slightly injured when he suffered a burn from super-heated water splashing back from the firefighting effort.

Wells said he was pleased with the cooperative efforts from all those at the scene. “Everything just came together very well,” he said. “If the fire had just a few more minutes head start, we could have faced a much more serious situation.”

Lehigh County tax records indicate the residence is owned by Stephen and Margaret Petrovich.