Fire originated from cigarette lighter in bedroom
A preliminary investigation by a state police fire marshal has determined that a child playing with a cigarette lighter most likely caused the catastrophic fire at the former Bellefonte Academy Wednesday.
The fire did an estimated $1 million worth of damage to the historic 19th-century structure. The figure is based on preliminary estimates of the cost of rebuilding the former boys' prep school.
Trooper Terry Miller, state police fire marshal stationed at the Rockview barracks, said an examination of the scene showed the fire originated in a child's bedroom in Apartment 2-2. The apartment was on the second floor, at the building's north end.
Police said a child was playing with a disposable cigarette lighter on a bed and the bedding caught fire.
Smoke alarms inside the building alerted residents to the fire, and police say a witness saw a lighter lying on a bed in the room. The bed was in flames, according to police, and three young boys were in the room.
The structure remains unstable and is very dangerous, officials said. Private security has been posted to keep onlookers at a safe distance.
The burned out shell did yield three additional survivors Monday.
Three cockatiels were rescued from a first-floor apartment in the south end of the building shared by John Shuey and George Mincer, a maintenance worker at the complex. They were pulled out from the building by Miller on Monday after security guards and Mincer heard the birds singing.
Calvin Zener Jr., a security guard with St. Moritz Security Services Inc., was at his post, keeping people away from the property, when he heard them.
"I knew it was a bird. They were chirping, and I was chirping back," Zener said. "I'm not a bird lover, but these guys (indicating birds) -- there's something special about them. They ought to be firemen."
"I'm just glad they survived," Mincer, 67, said. He owned two of the birds, and Shuey's daughter, Natalie Wolf, 31, owned the third.
Two other birds in the apartment, as well as some guinea pigs, did not survive, Mincer said.
"It's a miracle they survived -- it really is," Wolf said. "It's a sad story with a happy ending."
Related:
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Apartment Fire Displaces Three Dozen Residents
