Like the Fountain St. row homes that flames ripped through, 40% of Allentown houses pre-date modern fire standards

Nov. 2--Watching the first moments of the Oct. 20 fire on North Fountain Street in Allentown, it seems inconceivable that an entire row of homes will be destroyed.

A video shot by a resident across the street shows flames first appearing as a glow around 726 and 728 N. Fountain St., then licking the front of the homes, their facades already in a heap on the ground.

Lehigh County 911 records show the first call for the fire was received at 3:08 a.m. and that crews were dispatched three minutes later. Engines 4 and 9, housed at Central Fire Station just over a half mile away, were the first to arrive, at 3:15 a.m.

Within hours 10 homes would be claimed by the blaze, leaving 30 people displaced, but none injured.

Like many homes across Allentown, the houses that lined the east side of Fountain Street were old and had features that made them susceptible to a rapidly spreading fire. Only one layer of brick covered by plaster separated the units, and firefighters found evidence that in some houses, sections of brick appeared to have been replaced by wood and plaster, perhaps for doors, providing gaps for fingers of flames to slip through.

Based on the way the fire spread and the severity of the damage to the second stories of the buildings, there was likely some kind of open space between units, said Bill Harvey, Allentown's director of building standards. Newer rowhomes would have walls extending to their roofs, he said.

"You're looking at 115-year-old properties," Harvey said. "Would this have happened with today's standards? No."

About 40% of Allentown's housing stock was built before 1920, he said, long before modern codes and building materials existed.

That doesn't mean, however, that Allentown's historic housing stock is all going to go up in flames, said Lauren Golden, an architectural historian. Builders were very concerned about fires and fire resistance even in 1905 when the Fountain Street homes were built, she said.

Some of the building materials common in older homes, such as plaster, are as or more resistant to fire than modern drywall, she said. But just as in modern construction, the quality of buildings varies in every era, she added.

Hours after the Fountain Street blaze, Assistant Fire Chief Efrain Agosto, told reporters the fire "ran across the rooftops." Agosto, who is the department's fire code specialist, later said the layer of brick that separated the Fountain Street homes stood out to him when he was on the scene. Typically, a wall with a two-hour fire rating, which is the modern standard for most residential properties, would have two layers of brick, Agosto said.

"I found it odd that there was only one set of bricks," he said.

Harvey said construction of walls in older city homes varies. Sometimes there is a single brick layer, sometimes two.

The two-hour rating called for in modern code means a fire must burn for two hours before breaking through the wall. There are various options to achieve that standard including masonry and drywall. But properties that were built to older specifications are grandfathered, meaning the code doesn't retroactively apply to them. They're only required to meet it if the owner makes substantial renovations to the property, Harvey said.

In reviewing city records, Harvey said he found no substantial improvements were made to the Fountain Street homes that would have triggered that process.

Because of the severity of the fire, neither fire nor codes officials could say for sure whether the walls between the homes, called party walls, extended all the way to the roof. What little of the structures was left after the fire was extinguished, the city demolished days later.

Inspectors did find signs that the bricks between the houses were deteriorating, Harvey said. And one inspector noted the doors that appeared to have been cut between units, he said. Even the smallest pockets of open space between units can provide fuel for a fire.

One protection the homes apparently did have, were smoke detectors. Harvey said he was pleased to hear numerous smoke detectors sounding in the video that circulated on social media. That likely contributed to residents making it out of the homes, as did the quick thinking people who pounded on neighboring doors. Only one person was hospitalized and that was for what was described as a diabetes-related incident.

Golden said builders were increasingly concerned about fire in the era when the Fountain Street homes were built, due in large part to some deadly, high-profile fires. In 1893, the Breinig and Bachman building at Sixth and Hamilton streets in Allentown burned in a spectacular fire still considered one of the city's worst.

The building, which housed a namesake men's clothing shop, a piano store and a private library full of rare books, was supposed to be fire-proof due to the large iron-lined doors that were hung inside, according to a story in the Allentown Leader. The blaze, 126 years ago last month, was touched off when wires above the building were tangled during a strong storm, sending a surge into the building's telephone switchboard.

Homes built around that time had timber frame construction or some version of it, Golden said, and bricks were added between the timbers because they wouldn't burn. But when fires hit, the timbers still burned, leaving hollow cavities that fire could rip through.

Between 1900 and 1920, some builders began replacing wood framing with terra cotta and pouring concrete around that to create additional fire resistance, Golden said. During that period, electricity in houses became common, and the development of fire and electric building codes quickly followed.

Tin ceilings are now considered a charming architectural detail in an older building, but they also began as a fire resistance measure, Golden said. Some codes required tin ceilings in public buildings such as bars where smoking was common, she said.

Fire codes weren't designed to make buildings fire-proof, Golden cautioned. They're intended to give people enough time to get out safely, she said.

And just as with modern construction, building quality varied, Golden said. The Fountain Street homes were built as an industrial boom was happening in Allentown and immigrants were flowing into the city. Much of Allentown's early industry was centered along the Lehigh River, such as Lehigh Structural Steel, which opened in 1919, and Neuweilier Brewery, which was built in 1911.

Early houses were built closest to the river to accommodate that industry, and the city expanded westward, Golden said. The quality of the construction improved along the way.

Most of the homes surrounding the Fountain Street fire site were built over the span of a decade, beginning around 1900, property records show.

Homes of the industrial era were often built quickly, Golden said. Cost would have been a factor and the walls between homes were a product of that, she said.

"It's cheaper to leave it open," she said.

For the many city residents who live in aging homes, there are measures they can take to make their homes safer, Agosto said. Homeowners can have their properties inspected for fire safety and make improvements to fire walls to bring them up to code.

For renters, Agosto recommended investing in renters insurance and practicing good fire prevention measures such as avoiding the use of extension cords and watching carefully while cooking or burning candles. Working smoke detectors are a must, he said.

Renters should report concerning electrical issues to landlords such as outlets that don't work or breakers that repeatedly trip. If landlords are unresponsive, the issues should be reported to the city, Agosto said, adding that he realizes why tenants are reluctant to do that. "They're afraid of being evicted and they tend not to say anything." he said. But not saying anything could have far worse consequences, he noted.

The cause of the Fountain Street fire is still under investigation.

Morning Call reporter Emily Opilo can be reached at 610-820-6522 or [email protected].

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