When David Spalding woke up Feb. 4, the last thing he expected to do was drive an hour and 15 minutes to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City, and yet he ended up doing just that, leaping into action as soon as he could.
Spalding, an Upper Macungie Township resident, a registered nurse working in the critical care at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and a volunteer firefighter of over 23 years, said his interest and concern was piqued when an alert came on his phone that the Lackawanna County hospital had caught fire. Spalding had gone to nursing school at Penn State-Scranton and was still a member of the Throop and Olyphant Hose Companies in that area, so without even calling his chiefs, he got in his car and drove to pick up his stuff from the fire station.
“When I arrived on scene, I went up to my chief, who was obviously a little bit surprised to see me. And I was like, ‘Hey what do you need me to do? How can I get to work?’ ” Spalding said Thursday at LVH-Cedar Crest. “He chuckled.”
The fire that broke out at the hospital’s orthopedic center two weeks ago led to the evacuation of 77 patients and the entire hospital staff. There were no injuries or deaths associated with the fire. The hospital reopened its emergency department and operating rooms last week.
“The nurses and the staff there did an incredible job. The fact that by the time I got there, I didn’t have to affect any rescue. The credit really goes to them,” Spalding said.
David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, walks after speaking Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, speaks Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, speaks Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, speaks Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, speaks Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, speaks Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
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David Spalding, a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest and longtime firefighter, walks after speaking Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at his workplace in Salisbury Township about his experience helping to fight a fire at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City several weeks ago. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Spalding said by the time he arrived, firefighters already already had moved to a more defensive approach to putting out the fire, and he said he and about six other firefighters went up on the roof where the bulk of the damage was, to remove certain sections and look for spots that were still smoldering and could reignite. He said they then moved on to the first floor, where they looked for any areas in the wall where the fire may have extended and extinguished them.
Because of the freezing weather that day, Spalding said breaking down the scene took a little extra time; the hoses froze, which meant they couldn’t be wrapped up in the same way they usually are. In total, he said, he was at the scene for six hours.
“I was glad that we were able to save the hospital and we were able to get a good stop on it and that the rest of the building was relatively unscathed,” Spalding said.
Bob Begliomini, president of Jefferson Health’s Lehigh Valley Region, said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the hospital was able to reopen with most key services restored, including the emergency department, some inpatient beds, the surgery department and critical care unit.
Jefferson is relocating the orthopedic practice and rehabilitation services outside the hospital. Begliomini said the health network is working every day to completely restore the building, but thanks to the work of Spalding and the other firefighters, much of the building was saved.
“His commitment is over the top, I’d say. An incredible story, we are really proud of him,” Begliomini said.
Spalding has nearly a lifetime of serving others under his belt. He started as a volunteer firefighter in 11th grade, and worked as an emergency medical technician before becoming a nurse last year.
“I found myself on a critical care truck in New Jersey working with critical care RNs and they were like, ‘You’re smart, you should go to nursing school.’ ‘Why aren’t you in nursing school? Go to nursing school.’ “
He said he appreciates the recognition he is receiving from Jefferson and LVHN but he never expected anything for what he did.
“I felt like I was just doing my job,” Spalding said. “I honestly just feel like it’s my calling and it’s what I’m here to do. It’s a privilege to wear this uniform. It’s a privilege to wear the scrubs at work. It’s a privilege to take care of people.”