Girard Township, PA – On May 15, 2025, at approximately 9:00 PM, Lake City Fire Company was dispatched for a reported outside fire near the intersection of Middle Road and Fairplain Road. The caller advised the fire was located behind 8641 Middle Road, along the railroad tracks.

Upon arrival, Lake City Fire Chief 560 confirmed a visible fire burning along the tracks and advised Erie County 911 to contact NorfolkSouthern to halt all train traffic on the tracks. Lake City and Girard Fire units responded and accessed the scene via the tracks, where they encountered an active brush fire approximately 50 by 50 feet in size. Crews gained access to the fire by utilizing the area next to the tracks and utilized forestry line from Girard's Brush Truck. Crews used indian cans initially while hose was stretched to the active fire.

Fire crews worked quickly to contain and prevent the fire from spreading further. Erie County 911 notified Penelec of the downed wire, and a Penelec crew responded to the scene. Their representative confirmed that a power line had failed and snapped between two poles, likely brushing one of the main feeds which started the fire when it made contact with the ground.

Fire units cleared the scene by 10:15 PM, while Penelec personnel remained on-site to address the situation. Electrical outages were reported in the surrounding area due to the downed line.