Row of houses in York damaged by two separate fires
York City Fire and Rescue Chief William Sleeger say investigators are trying to figure out how the three-alarm fire crews battled Sunday night on the 500 block of North Pershing Avenue could have two separate causes.
"In my career, I've never been to one that was this bad. With the number of buildings that we had on fire and the amount of smoke and it typically wouldn't last as long as it did," Chief Sleeger said.
He described the scene as blinding smoke and believes the atmosphere and heavy winds caused the smoke to blanket the streets.
"We literally couldn't see in front of us, which made our tactical decisions really difficult. We couldn't see the buildings at all," the chief said.
Command officers moved closer to the buildings to be able to see, as families who escaped the flames moved away from their burning homes.
Pierre and Michelle came to York a year ago from Haiti.
"They don't have any bed, they don't have anything, they don't have any house," said their friend Molis Augustave.
They are just thankful their 3-year-old daughter and newborn baby are safe.
"Thank God nothing happened to them," Augustave said.
Mary Robbins’ daughter was able to retrieve some of her important papers and special photographs from Mary’s burned-out home.
"I have pictures of my children, and my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren. I happy that I at least can get a little bit of something," Mary said.
The cause of the fire that damaged two of the homes seems electrical, according to the fire chief. The cause of the fire that damaged the remaining four homes remains under investigation. He says those trained in fire investigation can tell by the damage that one fire did not cause the other fire.
The Red Cross is assisting 26 people, including 18 adults and eight children. The damage is estimated at more than half a million dollars.
Two of the condemned houses were demolished Monday.
