Leithsville Volunteer Fire Company in Lower Saucon Township struck by truck, catches fire - UPDATE

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2012/05/leithsville_volunteer_fire_com.html FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES A truck crashed through the Leithsville Volunteer Fire Company earlier this afternoon in Lower Saucon Township, and the building burst into flames. Emergency personnel responded for a burn victim at 1995 Leithsville Road and a second alarm was called to fight the fire at the station, according to emergency radio reports. The tri-axle truck was hauling asphalt and came to rest in the center of the station. Several pieces of firefighting equipment were burning. It was not immediately clear if anyone was in the building at the time of the 12:53 p.m. crash. Susan Dieterly and her husband, Mark, who was chief for many years at the company, live nearby. She said they heard the Jake brake on the truck, then air horns and soon after an explosion that sounded as if the truck lost its load, followed by a series of smaller explosions. "It's a common sound around here," Susan Dieterly said of the Jake brake. "A lot of trucks lose their brakes going down that hill," she added about nearby Flint Hill Road. Shelia Meixsell, who is Susan Dieterly's daughter, became quite emotional. "I grew up in there," she said of the firehouse as she fought back tears. Road closures because of the fire are affecting two bus runs for the Saucon Valley School District. One of the routes will be modified and the other bus run will be canceled, requiring parents to pick up students at the school buildings, officials said. In a phone message issued to parents, Superintendent Sandra Fellin said the route for bus No. 34 will be modified and the bus will take an alternate route, which will result in variable drop-off times at bus stops this afternoon. The afternoon run of bus No. 3 will be canceled, Fellin said. As a result, students from the middle school and high school who take bus No. 3 will be kept at their schools until they are picked up by a parent or guardian, Fellin said in the recorded message. We'll update as we get more information.