A serious residential fire atop South Mountain Feb. 11 during the Super Bowl broadcast, pulled firefighters from several area volunteer fire companies away from their festivities to respond to a mutual aid fire call in Salisbury Township.

The first firefighter on the scene, Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company Chief Joshua Wells, assumed incident command after the fire was dispatched by the Lehigh County 911 Center shortly after 10 p.m.

As Wells was nearing the scene, the 911 Center radioed Salisbury police had arrived and reported a “working fire.” Knowing there were no fire hydrants near the address of the fire, Wells asked 911 personnel to dispatch three fire tankers to the scene.

While Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company, Eastern Salisbury Fire Department and Emmaus Fire Department were on the first 911 dispatch, on arrival at the scene, Wells knew additional help would be needed and asked for several mutual aid fire companies to be dispatched.

Emmaus Fire Department personnel were the first to arrive, followed moments later by the first crew from Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company. Wells assigned the Emmaus crew to attack the flames centered in the garage area and Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company personnel made an interior attack where the fire had extended into the home.

Arriving crews from Se-Wy-Co Fire Company in Lower Saucon Township, Upper Saucon Fire Company and Fountain Hill Fire Company supplemented the on-scene crews.

Tankers from Eastern Salisbury Fire Department, Upper Saucon Fire Department and Vera Cruz Fire Department provided water for the engines involved in fighting the fire. Greenawalds Fire Company, in South Whitehall Township, provided a Rapid Intervention Team whose sole duty was to respond to any interior firefighter that might be in distress. The Cascade unit stationed at Woodlawn Fire Company, in South Whitehall, was on scene to refill firefighter’s air supply tanks.

Ambulance crews from Emmaus and Cetronia provided medical and firefighter rehab services. Police from Salisbury Township Police Department and Upper Saucon Police Department assisted at the scene. Fire police from Eastern Salisbury Fire Department controlled traffic around the site.

Officers from Salisbury Township Police Department’s Office of the Fire Marshall are investigating to determine the cause of the fire.

“All our mutual aid fire department partners worked well together to stop the fire as quickly as we did, and most importantly with no injuries to our firefighters,” Wells said.