LANCASTER, Pa. — One person was killed in a Lancaster Township apartment fire on Saturday evening, according to the Lancaster Township Fire Department.
Crews in Lancaster fought the flames at an apartment complex on Saturday evening.
The Department says crews were dispatched at 4:39 p.m. to the 600 block of Wyncroft Lane at the Kensington Club Apartments off Wabank Road.
Charles Knicely, 59, died in the fire. The Lancaster County Coroner's Office ruled his cause of death smoke inhalation and thermal burns and the manner accidental.
Department officials say fires at the apartment complex have become common over the last several years.
"There have probably been seven to ten fires in the last 10 to 15 years in that complex," said Lancaster Township Assistant Fire Chief Glenn Usdin. "They were built without building codes, which would mandate sprinkler systems, fire stops between the floors, fire stops in the attic, and a number of other features that would prevent a fire of this nature happening today."
Lancaster County 911 reportedly received multiple calls of black smoke and fire from the apartment building before crews arrived at the scene.
Due to low water pressure in the complex, a tanker task force of ten tankers was automatically dispatched to supply water to the scene. Responding tankers were from Manheim Township, Bird in Hand, Conestoga, New Danville, West Willow, Witmer, Hempfield, West Hempfield and Blue Rock.
The fire department confirmed that the bulk of the flames were knocked down just after 5 p.m., but continued to smolder for another hour.
The 600 block of Wyncroft Lane contains eight apartment units; units four through eight were damaged by the fire, leaving the building uninhabitable.
Red Cross was on the scene assisting the more than 22 displaced residents; additionally, a dog and a cat reportedly died in the fire.
According to officials, this is the fourth fire in recent years that destroyed an apartment building in Kensington Club Apartments.
Units were on the scene until 9 p.m.