March 27, 2023 Jonathan Cummings. on leave since the incident, doesn’t think he’ll fare well without Ex Asst. Chief Joe Jardin as the hearing officer.

By Thomas Tracy Source New York Daily News (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

One ripple effect of the turmoil gripping top New York City Fire Department chiefs is a delay in the handling of a sex harassment case that may lead the accused fire official to bring a $5 million lawsuit, documents filed with the city show.

A disciplinary case of a fire marshal caught up in the scandal surrounding the 2018 “Motherless Brooklyn” blaze in Harlem that killed a veteran firefighter has been stalled since Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh demoted Assistant Chief Joe Jardin to deputy chief last month.

Jardin was supposed to be the hearing officer over a sexual harassment complaint filed against FDNY Fire Marshal Jonathan Cummings. Since Jardin’s demotion, Cummings case has been left in limbo, his attorney Pete Gleason told the Daily News.

“The FDNY has not told me who the new hearing officer is,” said Gleason.

Cummings allegedly pleasured himself in front of the cleaning woman inside the EMS Academy in Queens on May 30, 2020, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint obtained by the Daily News.

The EEOC interviewed the woman, found her claims to be credible and forwarded the case to the FDNY for further investigation.

Until February, Jardin was the FDNY’s chief of fire prevention. As hearing officer on Cummings’ case, he could have exonerated Cummings or allowed the case to go forward, Gleason said.

“My client fully realizes now that the balanced oversight Chief Jardin would have brought to the process is lost — he will likely be judged by a Kavanagh sycophant,” Gleason said.

Cummings emphatically denies the allegations against him.

Gleason claims that the sexual harassment case against Cummings is linked to the 2018 “Motherless Brooklyn” fire and the charges are an attempt to discredit Cummings for siding with former Fire Marshal Scott Specht instead of his superiors on the cause of the movie set fire that took the life of Firefighter Michael Davidson.

Specht, identified in court papers as the lead fire marshal in the case, believed alterations to the building made by the “Motherless Brooklyn” production company caused the fire. Specht says in legal papers that he suffered retaliation when he disagreed with the department’s finding that a boiler flue sparked the fire.

A federal judge initially threw out Specht’s lawsuit, but his attorneys successfully appealed. The city ultimately settled with Specht for about $210,000, Gleason said.

The FDNY on Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of Davidson’s death.

Cummings has been on administrative duty since the sexual harassment allegations were made. He’s also being sued by the cleaner in state court. A criminal complaint was also filed with the NYPD, but no criminal charges were ever brought, officials said.

If Cummings is found guilty of the charges, he could be fired, said Gleason.

“However corrupt the process, my client is willing to weather the FDNY star chamber, even under threat of termination, if it means shining a light on the cover up of the death of Michael Davidson,” the lawyer said.

Earlier this month, Gleason filed a $5 million notice of claim with the city over Jardin’s removal from Cummings’ case, claiming that the chief’s demotion has “precluded Cummings from a fair hearing.” The notice of claim could be a prelude to an eventual lawsuit against the city.

“Jardin is a well respected chief officer with a reputation of being fair and balanced,” Gleason wrote. “Cummings is now without a fair and impartial hearing officer.”

A high ranking FDNY official shrugged off Gleason’s concerns.

“This happens all the time when chiefs retire,” the high-ranking official said. “It’s still going to be handled by Jardin’s office. It’ll just go to another chief.”

Under FDNY rules, another chief will be assigned to hold a hearing in Cummings’ case. Such hearings are an early step in the department’s disciplinary process, and cases are almost always referred to the FDNY’s Bureau of Investigations and Trials for further investigation and hearings, the high-ranking official added.

Jardin is one of three assistant chiefs Kavanagh demoted who are suing to be reinstated to their prior ranks.

Their demotions sparked a mass protest by FDNY chiefs who have criticized Kavanagh and asked to be demoted in rank and moved out of FDNY headquarters.

Kavanagh hasn’t signed off on any of the demotion requests and asked the chiefs to hang on for three more months while she “rights the ship,” sources said.

The demoted chiefs on Thursday filed an age discrimination lawsuit against Kavanagh, the FDNY and the city, claiming the fire commissioner targeted them because the chiefs were at or close to 60 years old.

As of last week, the protesting chiefs remained in their positions in the FDNY while Kavanagh builds her executive team, which includes retired FDNY 9/11 hero Joseph Pfeifer, who was named the department’s first deputy commissioner.

Pfeifer’s first day of work was Wednesday, Kavanagh said on NY1.

“The team is in place,” she said Thursday. “There’s no way to get everything we need as the largest fire department in the country done without having your own team. It’s not easy making the tough decisions but I think they are necessary when you come into leadership.”

The FDNY and the city Law Department declined to comment, citing the pending disciplinary case.

March 27, 2023 Wind Lake Fire Chief Justin Lyman said it’s sad, but officers knew their future was bleak.

By Scott Williams Source The Journal Times, Racine, Wisc. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Mar. 24—TOWN OF NORWAY — After 75 years of public service, the Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Company is preparing to cease operations and be replaced by a new fire department created by the town.

Leaders of the privately owned fire company say they no longer can sustain their organization in the face of growing economic pressures and a dwindling supply of volunteer firefighters.

Norway town officials have agreed to start a taxpayer-funded fire department using personnel, equipment and facilities of the Wind Lake fire company, in a deal being worked out between the two sides.

It is the latest example of old-style volunteer fire departments struggling to keep going in a changing world where fewer and fewer people are joining such operations purely in the spirit of civic duty.

Officials say Norway’s new department is being launched separately from another initiative under consideration with neighboring communities to perhaps create a regional fire department to streamline service in several municipalities.

Wind Lake Fire Chief Justin Lyman said the future of his company was in doubt, so leaders approached Norway town officials about taking over the operation and making it part of the town government.

Watching the old volunteer company vanish into the history books will be emotional, Lyman said. But the nonprofit organization likely was not going to survive much longer one way or another, he said.

“We took a long, hard look at ourselves,” Lyman said. “It’s sad. It hurts.”

If details can be worked out with the town, the fire company will close its doors effective July 1 and become part of the town’s new full-time fire department.

The two sides have worked out a tentative agreement after discussions began about a year ago.

Town Chairwoman Jean Jacobson said that while officials have no complaints about service from the Wind Lake company, the town has relied on other nearby fire departments from some ambulance calls — an arrangement that no longer is acceptable.

Jacobson said the town’s new fire department will provide a level of service that Norway’s estimated 8,000 residents have come to expect in fire protection and emergency medical service.

“They want qualified people to react in an extremely timely manner,” she said.

Compared with costs of $270,000 a year to contract with Wind Lake, the town’s new fire department is projected to cost between $375,000 and $400,000 a year.

The town already has rolled back its property tax collections for fire service, instead adding a $200 surcharge on each homeowner’s 2023 tax bill to raise money for the transition to a new department.

“It’s going to take more money, of course,” Jacobson said. “It’s just a sign of the times.”

Fire departments throughout Racine County and beyond in recent years have grappled with a declining base of community volunteers committed to responding in times of emergency.

The Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Company was one such volunteer-based organization when it got started in 1947. Today, the operation based at 7857 S. Loomis Road is down to about 30 firefighters, paramedics and other staff.

Hannah Carter, a paramedic who joined the department a year ago, said she and others are coming to grips with the fact that they are probably among the last members of the company.

“It’s a lot of history,” she said. “It’s kind of cool to think of.”

Lyman said any current employee or volunteer who wants to remain involved will have a chance to join the town’s new fire department.

Town officials also are working with state regulators to secure the necessary emergency medical service certification to operate the new ambulance service.

Although details have not been finalized, the agreement with Wind Lake calls for the town to assume ownership of the fire company’s equipment, vehicles and property.

Town of Norway Administrator Tom Kramer said discussions are continuing to complete the takeover deal.

“We’re going to look at how can we work together to make this work,” Kramer said.

Once the town’s new fire department is in place, talks will continue about possibly creating a regional fire department with neighbors such as Rochester and Waterford. County administrators have encouraged such collaboration among neighbors.

The Waterford Fire Department has been handling some ambulance calls in Norway, although the response times from such a distance have not been satisfactory.

One benefit of having a fire department run by town government, Jacobson said, is that firefighters and paramedics can focus on their jobs while town staff handles administrative work.

Referring to the public safety professionals, she said, “They can take care of what they’ve been trained to do.”

Lyman said he feels fortunate to have the Town of Norway as a partner in creating a new department to succeed the Wind Lake company. Under different circumstances, the company could have ceased operations in a crisis or an uncontrolled shutdown, he said.

But now the organization, Lyman said, is enjoying a sense of control about its destiny, with the support of town officials.

“We’re both in this together,” he said. “We’ve got the same skin in the game.”

March 27, 2023 Some had to crawl as state foresters denied treatment and ordered them to tape their melting boots to keep working.

By Katelyn Newberg Source Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A group of incarcerated firefighters from a women’s prison facility in Nevada were told to keep working while their boots and socks melted, causing severe burns to their feet that left them unable to walk, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

The lawsuit alleges that some of the prisoners were “mocked and ignored” by Nevada Division of Forestry staff when they complained of injuries while fighting a wildfire near Laughlin in April 2021. Prison staff then delayed giving medical attention to the prisoners, some who were denied pain medication when taken to University Medical Center, according to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of seven current and former incarcerated firefighters.

The Department of Corrections, the Nevada Division of Forestry and several forestry employees were named as defendants. Neither agency replied to a request for comment on Friday.

‘Keep crying as long as you keep working’

On April 20, 2021, a group of 20 prisoners were sent to fight the wildfire for nine hours by clearing out embers, churning burning soil and ripping out tree trunks.

After an hour and a half, the prisoners began to tell their supervisors that their feet were burning, but the forestry employees either ignored complaints or told them to keep working, according to the lawsuit. One supervisor had a woman use duct tape to fix the sole of her boot as it was melting, the lawsuit said.

“This had an impact on all of them,” said Chris Peterson, the legal director for the ACLU of Nevada. “It definitely caused anxiety for those that had to go back out in the field.”

Throughout the day, the firefighters felt their socks melt to their feet. As one woman cried, a supervisor told her, ‘You can keep crying as long as you keep working,’” according to the lawsuit.

Another woman felt that she was threatened with being transferred to a higher security facility if she continued to complain, the lawsuit said.

By the time the prisoners got on the bus to go back to the Jean Conservation Camp, some couldn’t remove their boots or socks and others had to crawl to move around. When one woman tried to take her socks off, “it felt as if the skin on the bottom of her feet was separating from the bone,” the lawsuit said.

Other prisoners had to help that same woman cut the socks off her feet with scissors, the lawsuit said. The prisoners were not taken to the infirmary until the following day, when medical staff found second-degree burns and “extensive blisters” on the feet of four of the incarcerated firefighters.

They were taken to University Medical Center’s burn unit, where hospital staff had to cut away dead skin and tissue from the burns.

“Plaintiffs were informed that they were not given any medication to reduce the pain because they are incarcerated people, and Defendant NDOC does not allow for incarcerated people to receive such medication,” according to the lawsuit.

The Office of the Inspector General investigated the incident and found that the boots given to the prisoners were in “absolute horrible condition” and should only be used a few times before being thrown out, the lawsuit said.

Peterson said that because of the state of the equipment, “there’s no way that other people haven’t been seriously injured.”

In addition to damages of at least $700,000, the lawsuit is asking for a judge to order the Department of Corrections and Division of Forestry to develop new policies surrounding prisoners who are trained as firefighters. The policies requested include practical field training before prisoners are sent into the field, removing damaged or worn-out safety equipment from the Division of Forestry’s inventory and training supervisors to recognize when an incarcerated firefighter is injured.

As of 2021, there were 185 prisoners who had been trained by Division of Forestry to fight fires in the state, and they earn $1 an hour while on the job, according to the lawsuit. Peterson said that under Nevada law, able-bodied prisoners are required to work or go through vocational training.

“Those people deserve for us, as the people of Nevada, to ensure they have the right equipment and the right training to stay safe while out there,” Peterson said.

March 26, 2023 Items of Norman firefighters who retired due to mental health issues were displayed on ‘Wall of Shame’ at a fire station.

By Mindy Ragan Wood Source The Norman Transcript, Okla. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Mar. 26—Inside the Norman Fire Department, a cycle of mental health disorders is fueled by trauma and a macho male culture that could be on its way out as young firefighters fight for the treatment they need to survive the job.

Over several months, The Transcript has conducted more than a dozen interviews with firefighters who remain employed and those who say they were forced to take mental health-related early retirements.

The Transcript granted anonymity at the request of firefighters, but obtained documents, photos and other evidence for this story.

On any given day, firefighters come into contact with horrific deaths due to accidents, fires, suicide, murder, medical causes like overdose deaths and heart conditions — but its the deaths of children that stay on their minds and tug at their hearts the longest, firefighters said.

These first responders who see children the same ages as their own and witness the crushing grief of those who love them strikes in the hearts of these firefighters a quiet terror of losing their own.

“You know,” said one firefighter, “you go out on these calls and you come back and wash the blood off your boots. The memories don’t wash off so easily.”

Bathed in the blood of children, smeared with exploded, charred bodies, and haunted by survivors’ grief, firefighters shared with The Transcript nightmares, flashbacks, depression, anger and addiction as signs of post traumatic disorder.

One firefighter said he contemplated suicide.

“I wanted to die,” he said. “I didn’t care anymore. The choice I had to make, I honestly felt, it was either leave or I’m dead.”

Wall of shame

Despite clear evidence they needed help, firefighters told The Transcript it took months to work up the courage to ask for it because of a “macho culture.”

When firefighters decided to confide in a department peer, they said news of their problems became common knowledge, which led to a lack of respect among coworkers.

They pointed to what became known as “The Wall of Shame” at Fire Station 1, 411 E. Main St. T-shirts and other items belonging to those who retired on mental health or other claims hanged haphazardly on one wall, while nearby those who completed full retirement were featured neatly on another wall, their names typed on metal plates in the same station.

The wall emerged sometime in the later part of 2019, but a memo from Fire Chief Travis King ordered its removal. The city, in a statement dated March 15, said those responsible for the wall were disciplined. Union officials, however, told The Transcript last week that no notice or evidence of discipline had reached its office — a normal practice.

News of the wall reached Norman police Lt. Teddy Wilson. He heads up the police peer support team for officers and has consulted with traumatized firefighters.

“It’s a breach of their confidentiality,” Wilson said of the wall’s clear naming of firefighters. “They confided in some of their fellow firefighters and they were put on a wall of shame. It’s despicable.”

The Transcript attempted to reach King for this story, but did not hear back. Some questions intended for the fire chief were addressed by the city’s communications director. Other questions went unanswered.

Assistant City Attorney Rick Knighton told The Transcript the wall was misunderstood. He said it was meant to honor members of the department. But firefighters said the message was unmistakable following several who retired early because of PTSD and other injuries compared to the wall where fully retired peers are featured.

Firefighters told The Transcript, the wall was evidence of spiraling morale and a clear message to keep quiet.

Consequences of silence

Jeff Dill, a former Chicago area firefighter and founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, is a licensed counselor who operates the nonprofit to study trauma and mental trends for firefighters. The alliance conducts mental health training.

Dill said the macho culture remains a pervasive presence as traumatic calls get worse and more frequent.

“There’s a lot of more anger out there, a lot more mass casualty events, more shootings and all sorts of things,” Dill said. “So, it’s really testing our brothers and sisters out there.”

Dill called the macho mentality “cultural brainwashing” and said ignoring mental health is costing people their lives.

“We validated about 1,840 fire and EMS (emergency medical services) suicides over the last 13 years,” Dill said. “But we estimate only 65% reporting.”

The subject of PTSD began to be studied in first responders in 2010 when Dill said he and others received pushback with claims the disorder is “a military issue.”

By 2015, the Alliance’s data was clear.

“They saw our data and said, ‘Hey we’re losing a lot of people here’ and realized they needed to get involved in this.”

Dill said the alliance has already validated 18 suicides in 2023.

Today, Dill said departments all over the nation are addressing the issue with resources and education but more has to be done.

“It starts in your academies,” he said. “Educational workshops, training family members, chaplains, counselors within the employee system and outside the department.”

Firefighters hope morale and a better understanding of PTSD emerges in the department soon.

“Morale is kind of a suit of armor, so to speak for defending yourself,” one said. “In high morale, there’s trust.”

March 26, 2023 Almonesson Lake Fire Chief Jeff Pfeiffer also was battalion chief of Deptford Fire Department.

Source Firehouse.com News

The New Jersey fire service lost a dedicated, well-known firefighter on Thursday.

Almonesson Lake Fire Chief Jeff Pfeiffer went into cardiac arrest after returning from a call on Thursday night.

Pfeiffer also was Battalion Chief for the Deptford Fire Department assigned to the Third Battalion, according to information shared by Tacoma Fire Department 

The Salem County Fire Academy staff posted a tribute: “Chief Pfeiffer was working alongside several of our staff, just last week, assisting with the FF1/FF2 program Ladder Operations segment as the ALFC’s chauffeur on the Ladder Tower. Never slowing down in his service to others he went the extra mile in helping us to groom these new brothers and sisters in our active recruit class. We will pause in silence at the recruit class roll call in the morning in his Honor…”

Pfeiffer also served as the Foam Task Force leader for the Gloucester County Fire Chief’s Association. In Deptford, Jeff was well known for his hands on approach to getting things done. He recently completed a curb to sky refurbishment of the Ladder 906, the “Maxix,” firefighters remembered.

March 26, 2023 Pembroke Lt. Terry Judge died after responding to an incident Wednesday.

Source Firehouse.com News

A New Hampshire fire department is mourning the loss of a veteran firefighter.

Pembroke Lt. Terry Judge died Friday after returning home from an incident, Chief Paul Gagnon announced on the department’s Facebook page.

He served in the department for 33 years. 

March 26, 2023 Monterey Park’s fire chief is concerned about the “everlasting effects” on firefighters who responded to the deadly Star Ballroom Dance Studio shooting.

By Georgia Valdes Source Los Angeles Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Monterey Park’s Fire Department responders to January’s Star Ballroom Dance Studio shooting are on a positive path to recovery after the emotional jolt of tragedy, city officials said this week.

The Jan. 21 shooting that left 11 dead had a lasting emotional impact on the 18 fire department responders that day.

During a Jan. 31 announcement, Monterey Park city officials paid public tribute to the fire department’s response to the emergency.

But officials acknowledged the emotional toll remained heavy for those who were at the scene, with the department’s chief concerned about the “everlasting effects leading to an end of a career.”

That concern included an apology from city officials for not intervening sooner do deal with the trauma that responders were dealing with in the aftermath.

At that point, four members of the department were on indefinite medical leave after the shooting.

Two months later, only one responder continues to take the extra time needed to recoup following the incident, said Monterey Park fire Chief Matthew Hallock.

He added that this was with the help of grief counselors and peer support.

“That’s what’s been so great — the support network in this area,” he said. “We brought in departments from around the area. They offered to run our calls for us while the whole entire shift went into this group counseling and then individual breakouts.”

Hallock said that there is no deadline for return to duty and the choice to continue to use mental health services and leave is voluntary. While the aftermath was rocky, Hallock added that the response from his team was “textbook.”

Hallock said after reviewing rescue footage, the responders’ ability to get surviving victims to the hospital at a fast clip was vital in saving lives.

“The silver lining of all this this tragedy is that lives were saved,” Hallock said. “I keep emphasizing that anytime we have a discussion on this is that, you know, lives were saved and differences were made in people’s lives because of what they did. If they can look back and reflect on anything positive out of this, it was that I think that’s helped quite a bit.”

Community healing continues, and the fire department itself is part of that healing. 

March 25, 2023 A tornado left a 170-mile path of destruction that left 25 dead in Mississippi and one person who firefighters had rescued from the mud in Alabama.

By Muri Assunção Source New York Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

At least 26 people are dead and many more injured in Mississippi and Alabama after a powerful tornado tore through the Deep South, authorities said Saturday.

The severe weather outbreak left a 170-mile path of destruction, leaving thousands without power, obliterating buildings and wiping out large parts of the Mississippi towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City.

In a tweet Saturday afternoon, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MSEMA) confirmed the death toll had risen to 25, but warned the numbers were likely to rise as local and state search-and-rescue teams continued their work.

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama also reported a casualty Saturday, saying a man who was stuck in the mud after his trailer overturned died after being rescued by first responders.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency in affected areas, announcing on social media he’d spoken with President Joe Biden and was assured “FEMA would be there to support our response.”

One deadly tornado appeared to have formed near Lake Providence, La. around 8 p.m. Friday, local television station WAPT reported. It then quickly gained strength as it approached the Mississippi River. Rolling Fork, Miss. took a direct hit from the “wedge tornado,” meteorologists said.

“Wedge” is a term used to describe a tornado that “looks wider than the distance from ground to ambient cloud base,” appearing wider than it is tall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. AccuWeather confirms they are some of the largest and most destructive types of tornadoes.

“My city is gone,” Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker told CNN. “But we are resilient and we are going to come back strong.”

Royce Steed, the emergency manager in Humphreys County, where Silver City is located, called the aftermath “almost complete devastation.” Comparing the damage to that of Hurricane Katrina, he said his town had been “more or less wiped off the map.”

As cleanup is underway, the National Weather Service warned residents to “be careful near damaged buildings,” “watch out for power lines,” and to avoid walking or driving through floodwaters as “they can contain harmful bacteria, chemicals, sharp objects, live wires and reptiles/other animals.”

In and around Rolling Fork, three locations are now open for anyone seeking shelter following the storms. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be offered at all three shelters MSEMA said.

Earlier this year, a series of powerful tornadoes barreled through Alabama and Georgia, killing at least eight people.

March 25, 2023 West Reading Fire Chief Chad Moyer said the violence of the explosion is reducing the chance of finding survivors.

By Zoe Greenberg Source The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Mar. 26—WEST READING, Pa. — Frankie Gonzalez stood atop a hill overlooking the burned-out wreckage of the R.M. Palmer chocolate factory Saturday afternoon, fiddling with a pair of binoculars and hoping for a glimpse of his sister, as the beeping of rescue workers’ trucks permeated the air.

A powerful explosion tore through the factory in this small Berks County town late Friday afternoon, sending a column of black smoke into the sky and killing at least three people. Four others remained missing as of Saturday evening, including Diana Cedeno, Gonzalez’s sister and the family matriarch. She had worked for more than a year in packaging at R.M. Palmer, one of the largest candy manufacturers in the country.

Gonzalez learned of the explosion from his cousin right after it happened. He has not slept since. Instead, he purchased a pair of binoculars, in the hopes he could see his sister carried out from the rubble. And he waited for news, along with Cedeno’s six other siblings, her father, her husband, and her two children.

“It’s stressful not knowing,” said Gonzalez. “You’re up against a wall.”

“Everyone at R.M. Palmer is devastated,” the company said in a statement. It said that it was trying to reach employees and members of their families but that all forms of communication were out of commission.

West Reading Fire Chief Chad Moyer said at a briefing Saturday night that because of the violence of the explosion and the amount of time that had passed since it occurred, the chance of finding survivors was rapidly decreasing.

“However, please be assured that our primary goal is accounting for all missing individuals and reuniting them with their loved ones,” he said.

The cause of the explosion remained under investigation Saturday night. The factory in West Reading, a town of 4,500 about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia, is known for making hollow chocolate Easter bunnies. Because of its large scale, R.M. Palmer had probably wrapped up production of its Easter candies in mid-February and was in a slower phase of production when the explosion occurred, said Evan Prochniak, CEO of the Philadelphia-based candy manufacturer Zitner’s.

The hill where Gonzalez stood drew worried neighbors throughout Saturday. Ryan Noll, 27, said the blast shook his home about four blocks away. He came to the top of the hill to see if more people had been pulled from the rubble, watching in silence as rescue workers continued to fan out in the damp evening.

Noll and other neighbors said that while the local chocolate manufacturer might not command the national recognition that nearby Hershey does, it is a revered institution in West Reading.

“Everywhere you go, there’s Palmer,” Noll said.

Peg Wrede, 70, a former Palmer factory worker who retired in 2005, described the chocolate maker as a reliable employer where people like her could work for decades. She recalled the sweet smell that flooded the halls of the building and how workers turned batches of chocolate into thousands of finished candies.

“They were real crisp — the bunnies’ ears cracked when you bit them off,” Wrede remembered.

Despite the uncertainty and fear shrouding West Reading, the town’s police chief, Wayne Holben, said that one person had been located alive and pulled from the rubble during the Friday overnight recovery efforts.

Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the site Saturday morning and met with local officials about recovery needs. The Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) were also assisting with the search and rescue efforts, Holben said, removing debris and working with dogs at the site. PEMA said on Saturday morning that five people had been killed in the explosion, but Holben and West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag disputed that number, which later was revised.

Eight patients were taken to Reading Hospital, according to a spokesperson. Of those, one was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital, two have been admitted in fair condition, and the others have been discharged.

As recovery efforts continued, town leaders and residents prayed for good news. The Rev. Vince Donnachie of Reading City Church said he did not know whether any of his parishioners were among the dead or missing. A congregational prayer at the beginning of Sunday’s service will focus on those affected by the explosion, Donnachie said.

These days, about 20% of the population works in health care and related fields. Politically, the area is a blue dot in a sea of red. Less than a mile from the former knitting mills, R.M. Palmer was founded in 1948 and employs 850 people, according to its website. Its chocolate eggs, miniature peanut butter cups, and Yoo-hoo mini bars are on offer at major stores like CVS and Walmart.

Residents described a harrowing scene Friday evening. Some of Donnachie’s parishioners reported their windows being blown out.

“I was sitting by the window I heard a powerful explosion, felt a puff of air touch the back of my neck, the windows rattled and blinds shook,” Jayson Messner, who said he lives approximately four blocks from the factory, wrote in a Facebook post Saturday morning. Messner posted photos he had taken showing black and gray smoke filling the sky, while bright orange flames licked the sides of brick buildings.