Officials Investigating Cause Of Fire At Ambler Auto Shop
AMBLER, Pa. (CBS) -- A fire at Ebner's Auto Inc. on South Main Street in Ambler took crews more than four hours to get under control Thursday. The fire disrupted regional rail service and forced some people to evacuate.
People were working inside of the autobody shop when it caught fire. They say they feel like they cheated death
"It was very scary," Maggie Cupitt, the officer manager at Ebner's, said. "I'm glad everybody was able to get out."
The fire gutted Ebner's Thursday morning.
"I didn't think it would be that big, to be honest with you," Carlos Lewis, a mechanic at Ebner's, said.
Lewis said he and the shop owner, Tim Ebner, were working on a car when the fire started. He said they were alerted by another employee
"He goes, 'The inside of the car is on fire,'" Lewis said. "So then as we back up -- it all happened so fast. But as soon as he said that, the car then came down."
"The car fell off the lift and it just went crazy," Cupitt said.
It ignited a massive three-alarm fire. A shared services agreement brought fire crews from 20 eastern Montgomery County towns.
"I peeked out and that place was engulfed in flames," Mark Elliot, a business owner, said. "Black billowing smoke coming out."
It took crews more than four hours to declare the fire under control. To preserve water pressure for the town, they deployed the large diameter hose strike team.
"We are actually drafting out of the Wissahickon Creek down here probably about two thousand feet away," Chief Jay Leadbeater, of the Wissahickon Fire Department, said.
Leadbeater said they've used that technique in other fires. No one was seriously injured.
The Department of Environmental Protection is on the scene to make sure chemicals from the autobody shop don't get into waterways.
The investigation into the fire continues – and no cause has been officially indicted.
