The irony of a Wednesday afternoon vehicle blaze that broke out in Lancaster Township was not lost on responding firefighters.

Lancaster Township Fire Department was dispatched at 4:19 p.m for a vehicle fire at 1405 Wabank Road for a truck loaded with fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment.

The 1991 Ford F-350 Super Duty box truck is used by Lancaster Safety Technologies, a company that specializes in fire extinguisher sales, inspections and recharges.

"As far as the fire extinguisher truck catching on fire — I thought it was a little ironic," Lancaster Township Fire Lt. Greg Leaman said.

When firefighters arrived at the scene they found the commercial box truck with a well involved engine fire parked at a house across the street from St. Joseph's athletic fields and the Hershey Heritage Village Apartments entrance.

The truck was parked under a number of trees near the home, scorching the foliage above the vehicle. Firefighters also were concerned about the fire spreading to two vehicles parked on the left side of the truck.

A second Ford pickup truck parked two feet away from the burning vehicle was saved when fighters attacked the fire from the driver's side, instead of hitting the fire from the passenger side where they had better access.

A turn signal casing on the second truck melted.

"Quick-thinking firefighters picked the correct point of entry to attack the fire," Leaman said.

Lancaster Township Fire Chief Ron Comfort Jr. determined that the fire was accidental, caused by a block heater plugged into the truck.

The truck's owner, Jerry Lefever, was having trouble with the motor and plugged in an engine block heater connected to an outdoor electrical outlet.

Lefever said the block heater overheated, leading to the fire.

The fire was declared under control at 4:39 p.m.

Lefever said the cab of the truck was a total loss, but the contents in the rear, including at least eight fire extinguishers, were not damaged. The loss was estimated at $25,000.

E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com