Smoke and flames could be seen coming from three-story row houses in Allentown Thursday afternoon in a three-alarm blaze that left five firefighters hospitalized with dehydration.
The flames broke out just after noon on the 800 block of N 8th Street and quickly spread to nine total homes, firefighters said.
The common roofs of the homes allowed the fire to spread.
Chopper 10 arrived on the scene around 1 p.m. to find smoke billowing from a few homes and flames coming out of the roof of at least one home. Firefighters were on the roofs of adjacent homes trying to contain the flames.
It took nearly five hours to get the fire under control, firefighters said.
Fire officials say that recent cuts to the department left only 24 firefighters to battle the blaze.
No residents were hurt but five firefighters required hospitalization for dehydration, according to authorities.
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All the firefighters were expected to be OK, fire officials said.
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