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WILLIAMSPORT SUN GAZETTE
Seven homeless after
apartment fire in Mill Hall
By ERIC LONG
MILL HALL —
A late morning apartment building fire Saturday left
seven people homeless and took more than an hour to
bring under control, fire personnel here said.
Clinton County Emergency Communications Center officials
said the fire at 255 Main St. was first reported at just
after 10:30 a.m.
Mill Hall Fire Company Chief Tony Walker said the fire
involved one building with three apartments and another
building with two apartments.
“There were no injuries,” Walker said of the fire. “By
the time we got there, the residents were gone.”
He said the cause of the fire appeared to be electrical
in nature.
“It was an accidental fire,” he said. “We’re pretty
confident that it was some wiring, an extension cord. We
had the (state police) fire marshal there
investigating.”
He said much of the building where the fire originated
was heavily damaged.
“The three apartments in the main building are probably
destroyed and the other building probably has a lot of
smoke and water damage and there may be some smoke
damage in Abbey’s Inn.”
He said the building where the fire started, a 60 by
80-foot structure, had fire showing and a lot of smoke
when the first crews arrived to battle the blaze,
minutes after it was reported.
“We were there a good hour and a half before it was
knocked down,” Walker said.
He said the local Red Cross was offering assistance to
fire victims who needed a place to stay or other
assistance. At least one woman who lived in the building
where the blaze started was staying with relatives.
Walker said he did not know the status of the other
residents who were displaced.
Three dogs also were displaced and Walker said a pet
turtle was lost in the fire.
“The property owner, Dan Chappel of Mill Hall, has
insurance,” Walker said.
“But in talking to some of the people there, it looks
like nobody there had renters insurance and the contents
appear to be a loss.”
A damage estimate was not immediately available. Walker
said insurance adjusters were expected to visit the
buildings within a day or two, when they will assess the
damage.
Mill Hall Deputy Chief Joe Walker said the structure was
an older building and credited crews from keeping the
fire from totally destroying it.
“The cooperation between departments was great,” he
said.
“The guys inside from all departments made a heck of a
good stop. They saved a business (Abbey’s Bar and
Grill), though they do have a little smoke damage.”
Two buildings that were not damaged by the fire itself
appeared to have suffered smoke and water damage, Walker
said.
The fire was declared as under control at 12:52 p.m.,
communications officials said. Emergency crews remained
on the scene until about 4 p.m., dousing the remnants of
the fire.
Responding were fire companies from Lamar Township, Mill
Hall, Flemington, Lock Haven Castanea, Dunnstown and
Beech Creek-Blanchard.
Section: Posted: 2/4/2007
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