Two-alarm fire damages Myerstown business

Nov. 25--MYERSTOWN -- With a fire nearly destroying his lifetime of work on the day before Thanksgiving, one could forgive Frederic Hoffman if he was not feeling very thankful.

But the owner of A&H Industries was not feeling sorry for himself Wednesday morning as he surveyed the smoldering wreckage of his custom wood-tool manufacturing plant at 837 Railroad St.

As several of his 38 employees huddled in small groups, talking in low tones as they stood in puddles of muddy, black water, Hoffman was already looking toward the future, declaring that he would rebuild.

"Yes, this is a setback. And yes this will create havoc for us. But yes, our most valuable asset is our people, and we will rebuild this. We will rebuild. It is going to be just as big," he said.

Just hours before, Hoffman watched firefighters from Myerstown's Keystone Hook & Ladder and Goodwill fire companies battle the blaze with help from surrounding fire stations. They managed to save about half of the nearly 29,000-square-foot facility, including the portion that houses the most expensive machinery. There were no injuries.

"That's the blessing," Hoffman said. "There were no injuries and we saved this building. I was blown away with the professionalism (of the firefighters). I'm very appreciative of the professionalism these people showed."

The fire was called in about 12:45 a.m. and quickly went to a second alarm as it spread to the second of three attached buildings. No one was in the building because the second shift ends at 11 p.m., Hoffman said.

At one point during the fire, crews had to evacuate the structure over fears that it might collapse, according to dispatches.

Another challenge was getting water to the flames.

Firefighters had to wait to use a fire hydrant across the nearby Norfolk Southern railroad tracks until train traffic could be halted.

The railroad company acted promptly when notified about the fire, Norfolk Southern spokesman Dave Pidgeon said. He didn't have an exact number of how many freight trains were delayed, but said train travel along the line was stopped for nearly three hours.

"We were alerted at 1:05 a.m. that there was a structure fire at A&H Industries," Pidgeon said. "Both mains (tracks) were blocked, and we did stop train traffic to allow firefighters to lay hose across the tracks. We were released at 3:48 a.m."

Another problem occurred when a water main malfunctioned and sufficient water was not available from the hydrant.

Crews set up a station at a nearby pond from which assisting fire stations shuttled water by tankers to the scene until the fire was brought under control and extinguished by 4 a.m. Other fire companies assisting included Schaefferstown, Prescott, Kutztown, Richland, Newmanstown, Mt. Zion, Rural Security, Campbelltown and Hebron. The Salvation Army canteen truck and a Myerstown ambulance also were at the scene.

Wednesday morning, a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal stood among the charred remains of the burned out building looking for a cause.

"Right now it is a little early to tell, but I'm focusing on the middle of the building," Trooper Janssen Herb said.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Herb said the loss was estimated at $3 million, and the cause is classified as undetermined. The fire appears to have originated in the center of the structure.

The building and 2.41-acre lot are assessed at $512,000, according to the county tax assessment office. No damage estimate was available, but because of the expensive equipment inside the building, it is expected to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.Hoffman's insurance agent and officials from a restoration company were also at the scene Wednesday morning.

A&H Industries opened in 1976 and manufactures routers, saws and other tools for the wood-making industry. Hoffman, who purchased the company from his partner in 1997, said its biggest customers are cabinetmakers.

"The slowest time for us is Thanksgiving until after the holidays, but that won't be the case this year," he said. "We are going to have to build a lot of new stuff."

Wednesday's fire was the second at a Lebanon County manufacturing plant this month.

On the night of Nov. 5, a fire destroyed the Acorn Design & Manufacturing plant at 24 Terry Lane in Colebrook, South Londonderry Township, causing millions of dollars of damage. Several workers were in the building at the time, but all escaped without injury. A cause has not been released.

The company, which makes point-of-sale advertising displays and recently renamed itself to Bench Dogs, was in the process of selling the building to Zimmerman Chair Co. and moving into a plant in Lancaster County.

___

(c)2015 the Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, Pa.)

Visit the Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, Pa.) at www.ldnews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.