Separate fires damaged a motorcycle business and a home in the Ephrata area this week, investigators said.
Firefighters from Lincoln, Ephrata and three surrounding companies responded to a Monday evening blaze at Frank's Cycle Products, 1665 W. Main St., Ephrata.
The 7:15 p.m. blaze damaged four motorcycles and the cycle's repair shop, Assistant Lincoln Fire Chief Randy Gockley said.
The damage estimate was $200,000. A state police fire marshal ruled the fire accidental, Gockley said.
Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 20 minutes, Gockley said.
On Wednesday evening, an Ephrata couple required hospital treatment as a result of a kitchen fire that started in a hot pan.
Lois Moyer, 57, of 40 Reagan Drive, Ephrata, said she had started to cook french fries on an electric stove and briefly walked away from the pan, which contained hot oil.
When she returned, there were flames.
"I am used to cooking with gas and always do french fries in a fryer, but this was a faster way. It was a lot faster than I thought. When I came back in, there were flames," Mrs. Moyer said.
She immediately emptied a fire extinguisher on the stove.
"The fire went out, but then it burst out again," she said.
Her husband, James Moyer, tried to smother the flames with a a pot lid, but the fire still wouldn't go out.
"I grabbed the phone and called 911," she said
Moyer said he grabbed the hot pan and lid and ran out the door.
Moyer and his wife were both taken to Ephrata Community Hospital for treatment.
Moyer had second-degree burns on his arm, and his wife was checked out for being exposed to dry chemical agents, Assistant Lincoln Fire Chief Randy Gockley said.
Lincoln and Ephrata firefighters responded to the Moyer home, located just south of West Main Street (Route 322) at 7:01 p.m..
Gockley said fire damage was confined to the kitchen, but there was smoke throughout the ranch-style home.
Three cats in the home were saved. Fire officials estimated damage at $15,000, Gockley said.
At 8:22 a.m. today, firefighters from the Denver area responded to a home in the 800 block of Locust Street in Denver.
A pipe from a coal stove leaked, causing fumes in the house, a Denver fire official said.
There were no injuries and no damage, the official said. Firefighters from Denver, Smokestown, Reinholds, and Reamstown responded.
On Wednesday afternoon, a fire broke out in the dust collection system of a dental products firm at the Greenfield Corporate Center, Lafayette Fire Company officials said.
Firefighters from Lafayette, Witmer and Bird-in-Hand answered the 3 p.m. call at Den-Tal-Ez Inc., 1816 Colonial Village Lane. in East Lampeter Township.
Titanium dust caught on fire in an interior dust collection system, Lafayete Fire Chief Ron Nolt said. The building was evacuated, and an ambulance crew checked out about six employees who possibly inhaled some of the dust particles, Nolt said.
Firefighters were on the call for about two hours. Nolt said they ventilated the building and took apart both the interior dust collection system and an exterior dust collection system.
The fire probably did several thousand dollars damage, fire officials said. Most of the approximately 75 employees were sent home for the remainder of the day when the building was evacuated.
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