Chapin Cylinder Head and Block suffers serious fire damage

By Ryne Turke on July 23, 2016 at 9:53am

The Chapin Fire Department responded to a pair of serious blazes this week.

On Tuesday morning at 3:30 a.m., fire crews responded to a residential fire at 413 French Street.

Fire Chief Scott Pahlmann believes the origin of the fire involved an electrical malfunction. Significant heat and water damage was done to the building.

Pahlmann says the owners of the residence were present during the fire and safely got out of the building. The Chapin, Winchester and North-Scott crews were on the scene for over four hours.

On Thursday afternoon, the Chapin Fire Department responded to the Chapin Cylinder Head and Block, which Pahlmann says was nearly engulfed at that point.

Pahlman says the origin of the fire is being investigation by state fire marshals. Crews from Meredoisa, Arenzville, South Jacksonville and North-Scott were on the scene for four hours. No injuries were reported.

Pahlmann says handling two fires in the extreme heat did some damage to his limited crew.

“It is a lot of wear and tear on the body and then you have full time jobs you have to take time away from. It is very hot outside. We had four guys overcome with heat exhaustion and one of them was transported to Passavant Hospital for evaluation,” says Pahlmann.

The Chapin Fire Department consists of 10 to 12 volunteers.