![\"Flames](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_2986.jpeg\")
Flames leap out of the attic window. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)<\/p>\nTwo Collingdale homes were damaged Thursday morning in a multi-alarm fire sparked after a tree branch fell on wires.<\/p>\n
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The fire department was called to the 200 block of Marshall Avenue at 9:19 a.m. for a house fire involving smoke from wires attached to the top of the home. Crews had been in the block due to smoking wires.<\/p>\n
Flames leap out of the attic window. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)<\/p>\n
By 9:30 additional units had been requested as they battled an attic fire in the two homes.<\/p>\n
About 15 minutes into the emergency, units reported fire showing from the rear attic window of one of the homes.<\/p>\n
PECO arrived and turned off power to the entire block, allowing firefighters to extinguish flames on the exterior of the home.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_2994.jpeg\")
The Collingdale duplex on fire. (PETE BANNAN \u2013 DAILY TIMES)<\/p>\n
At the 20-minute mark, officials reported two homes with heavy fire showing.<\/p>\n
The Salvation Army responded with a canteen unit and the Red Cross responded to aid two residents.<\/p>\n
Crews reported dealing with hoarding conditions in one of the homes.<\/p>\n
![\"Firefighters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3042.jpeg\")
Firefighters and helpers extend hoses up Andrews Avenue as crews needed more water for the fire. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
\n![\"Neighbors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3006.jpeg\")
Neighbors and residents watched as crews battled the fire. Some neighbors gave firefighters water to cool off. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
\n![\"PECO](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3061.jpeg\")
PECO crews on the scene were documenting and investigating the cause. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)<\/p>\n
At 10:19 a.m. firefighters evacuated the home as conditions in the structures had become unsafe. Firefighters used hoses from the rear of the home and ladder streams to control the blaze before going back inside.<\/p>\n
The rears of both homes were burned with a deck on fire and flames running up the roofline on the home at 223 Marshall.<\/p>\n
One resident said her daughter, who has a chronic illness, was awakened by fire responders and safely fled the house.<\/p>\n
Mary Sinclair was at work at the Broomall Wawa when she got a call from police that her home was on fire and she needed to return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter was asleep in the house and they got her out of bed,\u201d Sinclair said. She also noted the electrical service box to the home had just been replaced.<\/p>\n
As the fire burned, other neighbors handed out water to firefighters.<\/p>\n
There were no injuries in the blaze, which crews eventually got the upper hand on.<\/p>\n
Collingdale acting Police Chief Patrick Crozier said the call was originally down the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got on scene I could see smoke off the wires all the way up the street,\u201d Crozier said.<\/p>\n
Wires on that block run behind the homes and are attached to the structures running near the roof from twin home to twin home.<\/p>\n
One resident said power in his home was flickering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked out the window and seen some smoke. I put my head out the window and see some on 211 at the wires so I called in 911,\u201d said Kevin Thomas.<\/p>\n
Thomas added that one of the homes involved seemed to be used as a storage facility.<\/p>\n
Other neighbors said cars and old tires were stored on the property.<\/p>\n
Collingdale Fire Marshal Colin McCann said the blaze was related to a tree branch that hit a live wire down the street and traveled to several houses, 221 and 223, which sustained serious water and fire damage.<\/p>\n
McCann said the blaze was not a PECO-fault issue, however the utility had brought out an investigation group to try to determine what caused the issue at the two homes.<\/p>\n
McCann said firefighters had difficult making their way through the property to get to the attic and extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody did a great\u00a0 job to get it under control,\u201d McCann said. \u201cIt was hard fire to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the third significant fire in the borough in about six weeks.<\/p>\n