Cause of Pa. Fire That Damaged 11 Homes is Elusive

SHENANDOAH - The cause of an early Saturday morning fire that destroyed or damaged 11 homes in the borough and displaced at least 12 people may never be found, a state police fire marshal said on Sunday.

"You're not ever going to get an exact cause," Trooper Michael Kowalick, state police fire marshal of Troop L, Reading, said.

A woman who jumped from the third floor of the home at 36 W. Coal St., Lisa Ann Goida, 43, remained in critical condition Sunday at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.

Both Kowalick and Trooper Thomas Finn, state police fire marshal, investigated the blaze. Finn was not available for comment Sunday.

Kowalick said the damage is extensive.

"It's just too much," he said, estimating damage at "several hundred thousand dollars."

Still, he said the investigation is ongoing.

The 3:20 a.m. fire started in the second floor middle room of 36 W. Coal St. and quickly spread to adjoining homes at Nos. 28, 30, 32, 34, 38 and 40 W. Coal St. as well as 121 and 123 N. Jardin St., Kowalick said.

Homes at 125 and 127 N. Jardin had heavy water damage, he added.

"The flames did not make it past 123 (N. Jardin St.)," he said.

Rick Examitis, borough fire marshal, said previously that 129 N. Jardin St. also sustained damage. However, he did not return a call for comment Sunday.

The American Red Cross assisted at the scene.

Tim Firestone, readiness and response manager with the Red Cross, said 12 people ranging in age from 3 to 69 were displaced as a result of the fire. However, he was unable to provide their names.

He said one of the families involved had a 3-year-old boy.

The Red Cross, Firestone said, assisted one family with hotel accommodations and the rest are staying with relatives.

Red Cross director Janet Curtis said the organization was also assisting with food and clothing.

Goida jumped from the third floor of a window ledge as fire and emergency personnel arrived at the scene. She landed on concrete near EMS personnel and a firefighter, Kowalick said. She was taken to Geisinger via Shenandoah EMS.

Dean W. Tessitore, 52, also of 36 W. Coal St., was rescued by fire personnel from another third-floor window and later taken to Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street for smoke inhalation. He was treated and released. According to state police, Tessitore had been in the process of remodeling the lower apartment at 36 W. Coal.

"They could hear their (fire victims') screams as they were going from their cars to their truck," Kowalick said of fire personnel.

No firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, according to state police.

Kowalick was able to identify the following owners of the properties involved: 28 W. Coal St., Benjamin and Helene Marie Piccollo; 30 W. Coal St., Joseph and Helen Karsok; 32 W. Coal St., Kenneth Murphy Sr. and Shirley Anderson; 34 W. Coal St., Noel Sheridan and Martin Reddington Jr.; 36 W. Coal St., Matthew Neast, Jim Thorpe; 38 W. Coal St., Omar and Mayra Veras; 40 W. Coal St., Anthony Miernicki; 121 N. Jardin St., Anthony and Charles Palina and Christine Hysong; 123 N. Jardin St., Gloria Norcavage and Susan Supreme; 125 and 127 N. Jardin St., John Halford.

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