PHOTOS

Fire destroys Miesse Candies factory in city

Gas line feeds flames; damage tops $2 million

Fire destroyed a Lancaster city chocolate factory filled with Easter candies Thursday afternoon, leaving the future of the 130-year-old business uncertain.

Workers fled the burning factory shortly before 2 p.m. as a natural gas line fed the five-alarm fire. Firefighters risked an explosion and entered the building to shut off the gas.

The factory at 735 Lafayette St., which had produced "old-fashioned, hand-dipped" chocolates from a World War I-era recipe since 1955, was gutted.

Damage was estimated at $2.25 million.

Miesse Candies owner Frank Taylor was making deliveries in New Jersey Thursday and was not available for comment.

State police fire marshals Brian Herr and Tony Thomas said an electrical malfunction in a storage room ceiling started the fire.

Flames spread across the front of the building and ignited a UGI natural gas service line next to the factory's main entrance on Lafayette Street.

The gas fed the fire for about an hour until firefighters could shut off a valve on the line, Battalion Chief Duane Hagelgans of Lancaster Bureau of Fire said.

"The crews in the building didn't realize gas was feeding the fire and flowing into the air," Hagelgans said. "It created a real threat of an explosion."

Water pressure in hydrants on Lafayette Street was low, Hagelgans said, and firefighters were forced to use water from hydrants a block away on Manor Street.

UGI workers searched for a way to shut off the gas and considered breaking through the street to find an underground valve before deciding the line could only be turned off inside the building, Hagelgans said.

Five firefighters volunteered to go inside. The crew carried a hose to partially extinguish flames around the valve.

"It was risky," Hagelgans said. "There was potential for the roof to collapse."

Firefighter David Hamric, a 13-year-veteran, led the crew through the front door and searched for the valve through dense smoke and flames.

"The challenge was turning off the valve without completely extinguishing the flames around it," Hamric said. "If the flames go out before the valve is shut off, then there is no way to know whether gas is still flowing."

If gas filled the building undetected, Hamric said, it could have caused an explosion.

Hamric reached the valve and turned it off with a tool, eliminating the explosion threat.

"It was a situation we all trained for in the fire academy," he said.

After Hamric and the four others came out, about 50 firefighters spent another hour extinguishing the flames. Runoff from hoses mixed with chocolate and flowed down Lafayette Street.

Bob Meshey and Dennis Rineer were working inside Waycool Rod Shop, 712 Lafayette St., when they smelled smoke about 1:45 p.m.

"Smoke and flames were coming out of the front of the building," Meshey said. "My first thought was to alert the people inside."

Meshey's wife, Melissa, called 911 at 1:54 p.m. as he rushed into the factory and screamed, "Fire!"

"The workers were working in the back of the factory and completely unaware of the fire," Meshey said. "I was yelling, 'Let's go. It's a fire!' "

The four workers fled through a rear exit while Meshey struggled to find the front door. The smoke and flames had intensified in the minutes he was inside.

"Visibility was zero," Meshey said. "I can't imagine what it would've been like in another five minutes."

Meshey said his wife called Taylor in New Jersey and told him about the fire.

Taylor bought Miesse Candies in 1990 and also serves as company administrator, production worker and deliveryman.

"At a time like this, I can't help but think of all the stuff we have to do as business owners," Meshey said. "To lose in a matter of minutes what you worked for is just unbearable."

The factory, which made about 70,000 pounds of chocolate a year, was filled with products in preparation for Good Friday, traditionally Miesse's busiest day of the year.

Miesse sold candy from the factory and operates stores in Lancaster Shopping Center and at 60 N. Queen St. It also has a stand at Lancaster Central Market.

Daniel Miesse founded the business in 1875. He made caramels, chews, nougats, brittle and creams until the early 1900s.

His son, Roy Miesse, Daniel, learned to make chocolate candy while living in France during World War I, and the company began producing chocolates.

Miesse Candies has a large following.

Jack Wolf, 78, of West Lampeter Township, was driving to the factory for a batch of sugar-free candy when he saw the fire.

"I'm diabetic," said Wolf, who bought candy at the factory for 50 years. "Miesse candy is a special blend which gives me a large amount of satisfaction."