PINE GROVE - A massive fire destroyed a former manufacturing facility and later a water bottling company in the borough Monday afternoon.
Firefighters were called about 1 p.m. to the large wooden building at 18 Spruce St. and were met with massive amounts of fire.
Heat from the fire was so intense that siding on neighboring houses melted, a garage across a small alley briefly caught fire and a refuse container and lights of a car parked nearby melted.
Michael Stalnecker, chief of Pine Grove's North End Fire Company, said the fire appears to be accidental, caused by a worker inside doing demolition on the building.
Stalnecker said the worker was using a grinder to remove bolts when he noticed there was a fire, ran outside and asked neighbors to call 911.
"It looks like its accidental, there's nothing suspicious about it," Stalnecker said. "He was working with a grinder and the next thing he knows, there was a fire."
Stalnecker said the fire was brought under control in about 45 minutes, and that two firefighters were injured.
He said one firefighter was treated at a local hospital for heat-related injuries, and another firefighter was treated at the scene from falling glass.
The building was once home to Canoe Manufacturing, a garment factory, according to Sue Schneck, Suedberg, a former employee.
She said the factory closed sometime in 1986 or 1987, and then became home to Far Away Springs water bottling, which shut its doors five or six years ago.
When Canoe Manufacturing was in operation, it was a major employer in the area.
"There were a lot of women employed there," Schneck said. "It was a thriving business ... it employed a lot of people for years and years."
Denise Zerby, who lives nearby at 58 Pottsville St., said the building was engulfed in flames within minutes.
"It was really, really fast," she said of the fire.
Zerby said she and her daughter returned home after getting ready for graduation practice and noticed a small amount of smoke and small flames from the top of the building.
Minutes later, Zerby said, a person came running out of the building yelling, "Call the fire department." That, she said, was followed by massive amounts of fire that quickly engulfed the building.
In addition to the vacant building, homes and garages on Laurel Street, Spruce Street and a small alley that runs alongside the former factory were damaged by intense heat.
Firefighters from Schuylkill, Berks and Lebanon counties responded to battle the blaze, Stalnecker said.