Published Friday, October 11, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
Horses and sheep watched as firefighters battled a four-alarm blaze that destroyed an Amish furniture workshop in Lackawannock Township.
Only one wall of the building was left standing at Hickory Workshop in the 300 block of Orchard Road, and firefighters pulled it down in the search for hidden hot spots.
No one was injured in the blaze, although a firefighter was taken to a hospital to be checked out when he was hit by a hose, firefighters said. It appears a coupling came off the hose, firefighters said.
Steven Byler was the only person in the workshop, where hickory furniture is made, when a diesel motor that powered saws and other equipment caught fire.
"I heard the motor gun up and run over to stop it and I smelled smoke," said Byler, whose house is just across the driveway.
While Byler was able to turn off the motor, the fire had already started to spread.
"I run for water but I couldn't do nothing," he said, still with sawdust in his hair.
Fueled by wood, varnish and lacquer, Byler and a neighbor, Levi Hostetler, who ran down when he saw the fire, could save little.
"After I seen I couldn't do anything, I figured I could get a bunch of stuff out of the back, but no way," Byler said.
Hostetler said he was able to pull only a few pieces of furniture from the 9-year-old workshop, which is in an Old Order Amish community.
The blaze caused minor damage to the siding and roof on a nearby horse barn, but no animals were injured.
New Wilmington firefighters were called at 4:15 p.m., but could do little.
"The roof was caved in before they got here," Hostetler said.
Business owner David A. Hostetler said he will rebuild.
"That's how we make a living," he said, lighting his pipe. "No one got hurt, that's the main thing."
New Wilmington firefighters were aided by volunteers from Volant, Shenango Township and Pulaski.