United States (Pennsylvania) - The first firefighters to respond to a 3 a.m. alarm in Topton found flames crawling up the outside of the three-unit apartment building at 15 S. Callowhill Street. We had heavy fire from the alley-side of the building to the rear on the outside, said Topton Fire Chief Randy Sicher, who was the first officer on scene. "We were pretty fortunate other houses didn't catch on fire."

There were no injuries to the lone tenant in the building or firefighters.

Sicher said a single male lived in one apartment, and the other two apartments were vacant. The resident escaped unharmed after being awakened by smoke detectors, but the Sicher said the fire destroyed the building. He estimated the loss to be around $125,000.

The case of the fire remains under investigation.

The two-alarm fire brought about 70 firefighters from a half dozen fire companies, including Kutztown, Lyons, Fleetwood, Alburtis and Kempton.

The fire quickly spread in the mostly wood-framed, 100-year-old building, Sicher said. Firefighters had the fire under control around 4:15 a.m., but flames had traveled across and out the roofs. The intense heat melted the vinyl siding on a neighboring home at 19 S. Callowhill Street.

Firefighters mopped up and cleared from the scene around 9 a.m., but a fire marshal remained on scene to search for the cause. the cause. Sicher said the building will likely be condemned and demolished once the fire marshal finishes examining burned-out structure.

Topton is located near the Lehigh County border, a few miles southeast of Kutztown and about 20 miles west of Allentown.

Written by The Morning Call