'These Firemen Carried us Down,' Woman Says after Carlisle, PA, Blaze
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CARLISLE - The cause of the fire that displaced some 40 residents from an apartment building in Carlisle Saturday night has not yet been pinpointed due to the extent of the damage.
But after a day of investigation and inspection, Borough Fire Chief Randy O’Donnell said Sunday evening he and fire marshals have seen enough to rule out foul play.
The 8:22 p.m. fire raced through and ultimately destroyed the roof of the 33-unit building at The Residences at Seven Gables off South Spring Garden Street, and caused heavy damage through the rest of the structure.
Investigators do believe it started in the rear of the central section of the building, in a void between the third-floor apartments and the roofline, O’Donnell said.
Because that area is sealed off from the living spaces, another source familiar speaking to PennLive said, it is also quite likely the fire had a significant start before the building’s internal alarms were activated or any residents would have noticed it.
That seems to fit with a description from one eyewitness who was among those who reported the fire Saturday night.
Gregory Evans, a resident of an adjacent building in the housing complex, said then: “The smoke was coming out of the roof, and I dialed 911. And by the time the fire department got here, flames were coming out of that far corner on the end down there. And after that, all hell broke loose.”
Earlier Sunday, a woman with mobility issues praised volunteer firefighters who helped her and her roommate exit their second-floor apartment in the burning building well after the incident was underway.
Carole Hemingway, 83, said she and her roommate, Janet Wright, did not respond in time to an initial sweep of the building, and first responders were gone by the time they answered their door.
They didn’t think too much of it at the time because all conditions in their apartment were normal.
Minutes later, as the building’s alarms continued to sound and more and more fire trucks gathered outside, Hemingway said she started to grow concerned about what was going on.
“The alarm was deafening. We were inside, and we didn’t think much of it. We were going to watch ‘Murder She Wrote.’ And I said: ‘Jan, there’s eight fire engines out there. I think this is serious.”
At that point, Hemingway said she called their resident manager.
When the manager ascertained they were still in the apartment, Hemingway said, she triggered an immediate response with firefighters racing back to their second-floor apartment to bring the two women out.
“When the guy was ringing the doorbell — because we have mobility issues — I opened the door and he was just about to put an ax in it,” Hemingway said.
“We really couldn’t get down the stairs [by ourselves], and so these firemen carried us down. ... It was incredible,” Hemingway said. “We were rescued. Indeed we were. And these are very fine people.”
Hemingway said she and Thomas expect to get temporary housing through their insurer on Monday.
As of Sunday afternoon, they were the last two people in the temporary Red Cross shelter set up at Carlisle United Methodist Church.
“We’re water-damaged. But we didn’t burn, so we’re very fortunate,” Hemingway said.
At the height of the action, the large orange fireball that blew from the roof of the 33-unit building was visible from blocks away in Carlisle. It drew responders from throughout the county and its neighbors to extinguish and keep it from spreading to other buildings in the complex.
O’Donnell told PennLive earlier Sunday that three residents and one firefighter were taken to UPMC Carlisle Hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries, but all were eventually discharged.
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