Morning fire destroys Prospect Road garage
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — A fire Friday morning quickly destroyed a detached garage in the 1100 block of Prospect Road.
No one was injured in the blaze about 6:20 a.m. at the home where Gerald Kopp has lived for more than 50 years.
A cause was not immediately known but it was not believed to be suspicious, said Capt. Randy St. Clair of the Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company.
Trooper DuWayne Baird, a deputy fire marshal, said he is not investigating the fire. Kopp had no insurance.
“I don't know what I'm going to do,” Kopp said while looking over the still smoldering remains. “After everything cools, I'm going to go through (the rubble) to see what I can salvage.
“But I don't see anything that's salvageable.”
Destroyed in the building were an aluminum fishing boat, guns, gun powder, ammunition, a crossbow, two all-terrain vehicles, tools, shelves and other property.
Kopp was reading the newspaper at his kitchen table when he heard a noise outside.
“I thought it was the wind blowing,” he said. “I looked out and all at once the flames were shooting.”
He called 911 and hopped in the sport utility vehicle that was parked between the house and garage and moved the vehicle to a safe spot. He only recently bought the SUV.
There was no saving the garage — an about 20-foot-by-30-foot pole building with vinyl siding.
“It just burned,” Kopp said. “Almost all at once.”
The garage, which was constructed 10 to 12 years ago, had electrical service.
While waiting for fire crews to get there, Kopp admitted being scared that flames could spread to the house where he lives with his wife and a grandchild.
The fire was so hot that it melted the side of a large plastic garage container next to the home about 25 feet away.
“It was fully involved (in fire) and pretty much on the ground when we rolled in,” St. Clair said of the garage.
While there, he said, he heard “pops,” which likely were the ammunition exploding in the fire.
Prospect volunteer firefighters also assisted on the call.
