At 4:45 AM on 2/11/07, the Honey Brook Fire Company was dispatched to Kern Hardware in Honey Brook for a building fire. Chief Engineer 33-10 (M. Kern), whom is a co-owner of the store notified the Chester County Fire Radio that he had smoke showing from his home. Deputy Chief 33 (Witman) responded and confirmed the working fire and added the Twin Valley Fire Department to the box. Firefighters from Honey Brook and Twin Valley tried an aggressive interior fire attack, but the interior conditions deteriorated quickly and they had to evacuate the building. The alarm quickly escalated bringing multiple fire & EMS departments from Chester, Lancaster and Berks counties to the scene. \
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Station 4-9 was among those dispatched to the scene. \
-Engine 4-9-1 was dispatched at 5:34 AM and was instructed to assist with water supply in the front of the fire building. \
-Station 4-9 fire police were dispatched at 5:47 and were instucted to assist with traffic control at Cambridge Road and Route 10.\
-Tanker 4-9 was dispatched at 6:29 and was instructed to assist with shuttling water to the scene, since the fire hydrant system in Honey Brook was quickly overwhelmed by the demand.\
-Engine 4-9-2 was dispatched at 6:48 and was instructed to setup a fill site at Zook’s Molasses on Route 322 and fill tanker trucks. Engine 2 eventually drained this pond, and was redirected to setup a fill site at the Tel Hai Retirement Community on Beaver Dam Road.\
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Local Residents were advised to stay inside, due to the hazardous chemicals that were burning.\
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The fire was eventually brought under control, and the last 4-9 units cleared the scene at 9:16PM. \
The following is a list of the Fire & EMS companies that were on the scene, followed by their station number:\
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Chester County:\
Honey Brook- 33\
Twin Valley (Morgantown & Elverson)- 69\
Martin’s Corner- 34\
Alert (Downingtown)- 45\
Glenmoore- 48\
East Brandywine (Guthriesville)- 49\
Atglen- 26\
East Whiteland (Frazer)- 05\
Lionville- 47\
Kimberton- 61\
Sadsburyville- 31\
West Bradford- 39\
Modena- 37\
Wagontown- 35\
Parkesburg- 28\
Union (Oxford)- 21\
Avondale- 23\
Pomeroy- 29\
West Whiteland (Exton)- 06\
Elverson EMS- 89\
Brandywine Hospital Medics -93\
Good Fellowship Ambulance (West Chester)- 55\
Chester County HazMat Team- 15\
Chester County Department of Emergency Services Command Unit- COMM1\
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Lancaster County:\
Salisbury Township (White Horse)- 4-9\
Caernarvon (Churchtown)- 3-4\
Blue Ball- 3-2\
Liberty (New Holland)- 3-9\
Goodville- 3-6\
Terre Hill- 3-12\
Gap- 4-2\
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Berks County:\
Geigertown- 24\
Gibralter- 23\
Kulptown- 36\
Monarch- 06\
Boyertown Salvation Army Canteen Unit -18\
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The Chester County Fire Marshalls, Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshalls, Parkesburg Borough Police, Pennsylvania State Police Troopers, Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources, and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms also assisted at the scene.\
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Thank you to the Christiana Fire Company for standing by in our station for us all day to cover any additional calls. Fortunately, there were none.\
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Thank you to all the people, organizations and businesses that donated food, drink, clothing, and buildings to help keep all of the firefighters warm from the bitterly cold weather. These included, but were not limited to: Lancaster Salvation Army, Parkesburg Wal-Mart, Honey Brook Family Practice, Honey Brook Masonic Lodge, The Ladies Auxiliaries of the Honey Brook and Blue Ball Fire Companies, the many neighbors in Honey Brook& and thank you to Krapf’s Buses for bringing fuel for the fire trucks.\
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Our thoughts are with the Kern family and their employees as they now face the monumental task of cleanup and rebuilding their business from this disaster.\
Community CPR Class at White Horse Fire Co.
February 15, 2026