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Fire Destroys Warehouse In Snyder County

PORT TREVORTON — What started out as a small fire on the roof of a business quickly destroyed the warehouse in Snyder County. It took crews almost four ho...

PORT TREVORTON -- What started out as a small fire on the roof of a business quickly destroyed the warehouse in Snyder County.

It took crews almost four hours to put out a fire at Keller Marine and RV in Port Trevorton. The company sells parts for RVs and boats.

Thick black smoke poured out of the warehouse in Port Trevorton.  Firefighters say contractors were working on the roof of the place on Route 15 when the building caught fire.

"I could see the flames coming out. I hurried up and told everybody out of the building and I called 911," said employee Larry Master.

It took fire crews from five different counties almost four hours to get the fire under control.  Firefighters faced problems with strong wind and low water supply.  Crews brought in water with tanker trucks and closed down a portion of Route 15 to get water from the Susquehanna river.  There are no fire hydrants in the area.

"It's a large structure.  To get it all contained was an undertaking in itself.  We had some roof collapse," said Port Trevorton Chief Doug Lauber.

Keller Marine and RV is owned by Michael Keller and Lori Morrow.  The family-owned company has been in Snyder County since 1958.  Morrow and many of her 75 employees watched as the warehouse went up in smoke and flames.

"We're just so, so thankful that nobody's hurt and that we have so many wonderful employees who stick together and help each other," Morrow said.

The owners say it is too early to put a dollar amount on what was lost, but they say thousands of dollars in RV and boat equipment was destroyed in the fire.  But the owners say, in a way, they are blessed because most of the equipment was in a different warehouse.

"It's in times like these when you really learn what everybody's made of."

The owners of Keller Marine and RV say they will rebuild the warehouse in Port Trevorton.  The family is grateful that the fire did not spread to the company's other buildings.

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