Recent Incidents
LTFD Assists At Millersville House Fire
January 19th, 2007, 1:32 PM
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Photo 1 By Millersville Fire Company; Photo 2&3 By Richard Hertzler, Lancaster New Era
Family flees as fire destroys suburb home
By CHAD UMBLE, New Era Staff Writer
An early morning fire ripped through a suburban Manor Township home, causing an estimated $275,000 damage.
No one was injured in the blaze, which fire officials said started
on the second floor. The fire, still under investigation, was deemed
accidental.
"Everybody got out safely, which is our main concern. The house can be replaced," said Millersville Fire Chief Keith Eshleman.
The house is owned Paul Holt and his wife Deborah, who is the principal of Central Manor Elementary School.
The couple and their two children escaped the blaze, as did the family's dog. The family's cat did not survive, neighbors said.
Firefighters responded to the blaze at 140 Spring Meadow Lane at
roughly 5:15 a.m. Neighbors reported flames shooting some 20 feet up
from the house.
"When I walked out, it looked like the sun was coming up," said Keith Lease, who lives next door to the Holts.
The siding of Lease's house melted from the heat of the blaze.
Some 75 firefighters brought the fire under control within 30
minutes, running fire hoses a quarter-mile down the residential
development to a nearby branch of the Conestoga Creek.
Before it was extinguished, the fire destroyed the two-car garage, and gutted one half of the green-shuttered Cape Cod house.
The house is one of the original homes in Letort Manor, a
25-year-old development of less than 100 homes near Ann Letort
Elementary School.
The fire collapsed the roof of the two-story garage, but neighbors
reported that the family moved two cars out of the garage before it was
destroyed.
Family members spent the morning at a neighbor's house. Fire
officials said this morning the Red Cross would be arriving to assist
them.
Firefighters from 11 area companies, including crews from Quarryville and New Danville, helped to battle the blaze.
Eshleman said portions of the house were undamaged and the property was insured.
By mid-morning, firefighters were pulling out insulation, and
gutting the damaged parts of the house. They also continued to spray
for potential hot spots.
Beverly Lease, who lingered at her door this morning, said firefighters twice checked her house for possible hot spots.
"There's not a whole lot you can do except stand and watch," she said.
Her son, Keith, described the heat from the blaze as intense, on a
morning when temperatures were in the 30s and a few stray snowflakes
fell.
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