Firefighters from multiple companies across two states were dispatched to assist the West Grove Fire Company on a reported house fire in London Britain Township early Friday morning. Pagers and sirens sounded at 2:45am for a dwelling fire on Good Hope Road near Flint Hill Road. The call for West Grove Fire Company came in from a neighbor across the street, who reported a vacant dwelling was on fire.

WGFC responded with Ladder 22, Engine 22-3, Rescue 22, Tanker 22, both ambulances and fire police. With input from the 911 call takers, the responding Ladder 22 crew requested additional water tankers due to the rural nature of the reported fire location. Crews responding to the London Britain fire station could see the burning structure from the nearby intersection.

Returning from an earlier fire alarm call, Engine 23-2 from Avondale arrived just before WGFC Engine 22-3, reporting a burning structure and were working to find access to the abandoned home site. Engine 22-3 set up alongside Good Hope Road, with crews from Engine 22-3 and Engine 23-2 stretching 550 feet of three inch leader line back to the 2-1/2 story stone structure, with fire showing from all windows and doors, and the roofline.

Crews carried back "high rise" packs of hose to be used for attack purposes. High rise packs are self contained packs of 150' of 1-3/4" attack line. Leader lines are higher flow 3" lines and have a Y-valve at the end, allowing them to supply multiple handlines. Eventually, this set up allowed crews to deploy two attack lines to start to knock down the fire. Tanker 22 arrived to supply Engine 22-3, and the tanker then served as a "nurse" tanker (other tankers fed into Tanker 22) -- with tankers from Avondale, Hockessin and Cochranville supplying water. During the fire, approximately 12,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish the blaze.

Firefighters used an exterior attack due to the structure being abandoned and so much fire damage. Also, heavy vegetation around the house, with the woods grown up right to the structure, made access to all sides of the building challenging. Engine 22-3's generator supplied electric to power lighting for the scene, with crews working until nearly 530am on scene. Fire police crews had Good Hope Road shut down during the incident and assisted at the tanker fill site at Wheatland Farms in New London. There were no injuries.