At 2123 hours, while Good Will crews were wrapping up a ladder drill, the WCFD was dispatched to 10 North Church Street for the reported building fire. Engine 52-2 (Lt. Davis) and Engine 52-1 (Lt. Widmayer) responded with 10 firefighters and arrived on location within four minutes of dispatch. Engine 52-2 was first arriving and found a four story mixed occupancy building with fire through the roof. Shortly thereafter Assistant 52 (Stafford) and Assistant 51 (Pelna) arrived on location and requested the working fire dispatch and a second alarm. The crew from Engine 52-2 forced entry through the A side and found the stairs with their high rise pack, while the crew from Engine 52-1 stretched a three inch leader line. Engine 52-2 found heavy smoke conditions on the third floor and deployed their line from that location. The crew proceeded to the fourth floor in zero visibility smoke conditions. 52-2's crew forced entry into the fourth floor and found extremely heavy fire conditions throughout. An interior attack was initiated but pushed back due to deteriorating fire conditions. Command gave the order for master stream operations, and the crew from 52-2 pulled back to the third floor. While crews were initiating an attack from Engine 51-1's snozzle and Tower 54 (Goshen), the interior crew was joined by additional West Chester firefighters from First West Chester (Station 51) and Fame (Station 53). West Chester crews placed a second line in service and attempted a second push on the fire. After several minutes, and despite the determined effort of West Chester crews to continue the interior attack, deteriorating fire conditions once again forced the crews out of the structure and into a defensive attack.

As crews continued the attack from multiple elevated waterways, fire was observed dropping down and extending into the third floor. A third alarm was transmitted, and command made the decision to make a third and final push on the fire. A crew of West Chester firefighters from all three stations was assembled and made a third entry into the building. West Chester crews quickly placed five lines in service inside the structure and were able to finally bring the fire under control at 2349 hours. Extensive overhaul followed, with the final West Chester Fire Department units leaving the scene after 3 AM. Special thanks to Phoenixville, Kennett, Valley Forge, Berwyn and Kimberton Fire Companies for covering the West Chester Fire Department while units operated on the fire. The standby companies handled a fatal accident with fire on Route 322 as well as several other calls.

The three companies of the West Chester Fire Department showed what training, determination, cooperation and coordination together can accomplish. All crews performed exceptionally well given conditions on scene.