Explosive blaze
prompts fire ban

By KRISTA GROMALSKI

SHOHOLA — Responding to a structure fire at about 11:00 p.m. on April 30 in the Trails End mobile home park, the Shohola Township Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department arrived on an explosive scene. A 100-pound propane tank attached to one of the two “fully involved” trailers burst into a “massive explosion,” said Fire Chief Don Wall.

“It knocked my helmet right off,” he said.

No injuries were reported in the blaze on Route 6 in the township and the fire was under control by about 1:30 a.m., Wall said.

The cause of the fire, which destroyed the two trailers and badly damaged five others, was listed as unknown by the arson investigator, Wall said.

The propane tanks, however, were from 1969, he said. “A lot of the trailers have old cylinders. It’s very dangerous.”

Wall said the fire spread to the other structures because of the wind igniting dry leaves. “As of now, there is a burn ban on in Shohola Township,” he said.

Also responding to the Trails End fire were the Milford, Yulan and Greeley fire departments.