Property belonging to a long-time local independent oil producer
was destroyed early Tuesday morning in a massive blaze on
Longfellow Avenue, which left four structures destroyed and a
handful of homes damaged. Officials said no injuries were reported
as a result of the fire.
The 3:40 a.m. two-alarm fire – which leveled two large
warehouses belonging to Cline Oil Co., and caused at least seven or
eight explosions from propane and acetylene tanks inside the
buildings – is still under investigation by state police fire
marshal Michael McCracken of the Ridgway barracks.
All told, nearly 40 firefighters from the Bradford City Fire
Department and Bradford Township Volunteer Fire Department battled
the blaze and handled its aftermath for about nine hours.
“It was just unbelievable,” City Fire Capt. James “Boo” Coder
said Tuesday afternoon. “There were some explosions like you
couldn’t believe. Things were blowing up everywhere. I thought I
was in Beirut.”
According to Coder, among the structures destroyed in the fire
were the Cline Oil warehouses located at 1 Longfellow Ave., which
are owned by Willard and Joyce Cline; a detached residential garage
owned by Melvin Hall at 7 Longfellow Ave.; and another garage at 5
Longfellow Ave., owned by Clyde and Leslie Mott.
Meanwhile, the Cline’s nearby home suffered some heat damage to
the vinyl siding; the same held true at Hall’s residence, as well
as a home owned by Robert and Charlene Messina of 3 Longfellow Ave.
Coder said the siding melted off the homes due to the intense heat
of the fire.
Also destroyed in the inferno were oil well drilling equipment,
a large dump truck and two pickup trucks inside the Cline
warehouses, along with a 1989 Ford pickup and 1978 Honda 400
motorcycle located inside the Mott’s garage.
Coder said the homes were occupied at the time of the fire; the
residents were allowed to return later. All the properties were
insured, except for the garage at 5 Longfellow, according to the
incident report.
The structures were tightly packed against each other, which
helped aid the rapidly moving blaze – which spurred flames
appearing as high as 20 to 30 feet in the air. The physical nature
of Longfellow Avenue also played havoc with firefighters, which had
to bring water into the site from nearby streets where hydrants
were located.
About a dozen homes comprise the street, which is situated on a
hillside between South Kendall and Welch avenues.
“You are barely able to get a Volkswagen back there,” Coder
said. “We had to get water from a lot of different places. We
(firefighters) had to use caution when we were back in there
because of the exploding tanks.”
According to Coder, while some of the tanks exploded, others
leaked out their contents with a shrill burn.
Luckily, the homes located near the fire were saved.
With the help of an older model fire engine, firefighters were
able to prevent the flames from reaching the Cline’s home, located
behind the warehouses and near the company office.
“It was like driving through hell,” Coder said. “The fire was
all over and moving fast. We had to get water back there to keep
the fire from burning the house.”
Coder said the intense heat melted the emergency lights on the
top of the engine, burned some fire hose and bubbled some of the
paint off the rig.
Dorothy McAndrew of 41 Welch Ave., said just after 3 a.m., she
heard the call of a fire on Longfellow on the scanner. From there,
she climbed out of bed, walked to the bathroom window and looked
out.
She saw flames and eventually made her way down to a neighbor’s
house at 37 Welch Ave.
“It looked like the whole block was on fire,” McAndrew said.
“The stench was terrible. All I could see was red when I looked
out. I never saw anything like it before.”
McAndrew said they watched as the water was shot across the
street over the house.
“The noise was terrible,” McAndrew said. “Thank God we have that
fire department, those guys were right there. I hope I never see
that again. I am glad everyone got out OK. You can replace things,
but you can’t replace people.”
Officials said water to fight the blaze was obtained from
sources on East Main Street and Kendall Avenue, while Bradford
Township filled up at Lorana Avenue and Welch Avenue and Cornen
Street, and helped supply the city’s units.
“I think everything went pretty good,” Bradford Township Fire
Chief Dan Burkhouse said. “Both departments work well
together.”
All told, 18 firefighters and three engines (including Tower
One) from the city, and around 18 members and three engines from
the township fought the blaze. The Lewis Run and Corydon Township
volunteer fire departments were on stand-by for Bradford
Township.
In addition to the Bradford City Police, members of the Bradford
Special Police were on scene to help divert traffic around the
scene – particularly on Kendall Avenue.
Neighborhood reports indicate telephone and power lines were
downed in the area of Melvin and Lorana avenues when traffic was
rerouted due to the fire.
Sharon Schaefer, a media relations contact for Verizon, said
their local foreman was notified about the blaze and two
technicians were sent out to put the telephone lines back in
place.
Meanwhile, a message left seeking comment for Penelec Area
Manager Russell Vanhorn was not immediately returned Tuesday
evening. However, when reached by phone later in the evening,
Vanhorn said he did not know of the situation and the media would
have to wait until today to know if power problems did exist in the
fire area.
Members of the Bradford City Department of Public Works also
lent a hand, placing sandbags around a city storm drain near the
scene to prevent any oil or other chemicals from the buildings from
entering the storm drain system. Officials said there was no large
spill of oil as the buildings only contained machinery and tools
used in the oil fields.
Owners vow to bring Cline Oil Co. back from the ashes
The owners of Cline Oil Co., vowed Tuesday to bring the company
back from the ashes following a devastating fire which destroyed
warehouses, multiple vehicles and equipment.
The company – which has been in operation for 60 years at the
same location on Longfellow Avenue – is owned by Willard and Joyce
Cline of Bradford.
“How do you start over after 60 years in the same location and
60 years of being in business,” an emotionally shaken Joyce Cline
told The Era. “It’s not easy, but we will start over. Fortunately,
there was not any loss of life and we are thankful for that.
“We are down, but sure not out, that’s for sure.”
Cline said they have two sons that work in the business.
“For them, we will rebuild. I’ve never, ever seen anything like
it (fire).”
According to Bradford City Fire Department Capt. James “Boo”
Coder, the 3:40 a.m. fire destroyed two large warehouses belonging
to the Clines, along with oil well drilling equipment, a large dump
truck and two pickup trucks.
The Cline’s nearby home and office were spared, except for some
melted siding on the residence caused by the intense heat of the
inferno, which also engulfed some nearby garages and vehicles owned
by other residents of the street.
The damage cannot be measured in dollars, Cline said.
“So much is irreplaceable,” Cline said. “Tools that can’t be
replaced. That’s what we will start missing … when we go to get
something and it’s not there. It was our base of operation and now
everything is gone.”
Cline said the couple’s neighbors came over to their house and
woke them up.
“Our living quarters are clear in the back behind the office,”
Cline said. “We didn’t see anything until the neighbors came and
pounded on the door to get us up. We have wonderful neighbors up
here and they have been so supportive. We appreciate that.”
Cline said it looks like the fire started in a garage beside the
Cline’s property and quickly spread over to their two buildings. A
state police fire marshal from Ridgway will be back on scene today
to further investigate the blaze. No cause has been issued.
“It almost got to our house,” Cline said. “Thanks to a garden
hose, they saved the office. It spread so fast, we just couldn’t
believe it.”
According to Cline, the original building was a barn that was
right behind 3 Longfellow; the Clines kept adding onto it for
storage and for the vehicles.
“Our place is almost right behind the old Sixth Ward
School.”
Cline said her family has been comforted by “a parade of people”
offering support.
“We’ve had some producers and some people from the refinery,”
Cline said. “We’ve had tremendous support. Everybody is offering to
help and said they will be here to help out.”
The rough and tumble oil business is a tight group, pulling
together when times are tough. Cline currently serves as secretary
to the Pennsylvania Independent Petroleum Producers Association, a
conglomerate of independent producers from across the state.
