HAMPDEN TOWNSHIP, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Emergency crews responded to a fire at Zenith Energy, located along the 5000 block of Simpson Ferry Road in Hampden Township, Cumberland County. It happened shortly before 12:30 p.m.
The deputy fire chief of Hampden Township Fire Company says crews were transferring gasoline from one pipe to another when the pipes caught fire. He says it took only 8 mins for crews to respond, and they put the fire out easily. Shortly after though, gasoline leaked near the piping.
Hazmat teams responded from Cumberland and Dauphin counties and contained the leak. Fire officials say they did not have to evacuate anyone from the building. Crews say they have not had to respond to any incidents like this in years.
The deputy chief says faculty and staff with Zenith Energy acted quickly, and local fire departments were prepared.
“This is a significant incident; we do not have these type of incidents every day. The reason why we were so prepared for this is because we pre-planned this. That means we meet with facility, we have fire departments, we tour the area, we prepare for this when it happened,” said Jerry Ozog, Deputy Fire Chief of Hampden Township Fire Company.
A spokeswoman for Zenith Energy sent FOX43 this statement: “Our sincere thanks to the Hampden Township fire department, local police and other authorities for their quick work extinguishing the fire at our Mechanicsburg Terminal today. We also appreciate drivers’ patience as we know the related road closures led to traffic delays. Thankfully, there were no injuries. We have shut in the affected pipeline and suspended operations at the terminal while we conduct clean-up. We will be working with the authorities to determine the cause and take appropriate preventive measures in the future.”
Right now, no estimate on the amount of damage.
A portion of Simpson Ferry Road near Wesley Drive was closed for several hours while crew cleaned up the scene.
