2 injured, including firefighter, as fire tears through Reading home

Two people, including a firefighter, were sent to the hospital as a massive fire ripped through a home in Reading Wednesday, according to Reading fire officials.

When firefighters first arrived at the home on James Road shortly before 6 p.m., they said they found the homeowner on the first floor suffering from several burns. They were rushed to the hospital to be treated.

Firefighters said in addition to the bitter cold and snowy conditions, a large amount of items packed into the hallways in what appeared to be a hoarding situation complicated their efforts to put out the flames.

“So the conditions that they found inside were a lot of heavy personal belongings clogging hallways and rooms, made advancing hose lines very, very difficult and made conditions very unsafe to be inside,” said Reading Fire Chief Rick Nelson. “They had high heat and heavy smoke conditions with very low visibility, so it was very dangerous, it was very hard to make advances towards where the fire was.”

A firefighter from an assisting department was also taken to the hospital.

Nelson said the injuries to both the firefighter and the homeowner are non-life-threatening.

Firefighters said they expect to remain at the home for the rest of the night into the morning to make sure the fire is completely extinguished and does not flare up again.

No word on the cause of the fire.

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