Second Arson Fire Tackled by Harrisburg, PA, Firefighters

Just days after an arson fire swept through an apartment building, fire crews returned to battle a second blaze that was also determined to be arson.

The second fire happened around 10:50 a.m. Friday at the 2100 block of North Fifth Street, according to Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline.

“This is definitely the worst of the two we’ve had this week thus far,” Enterline told media members as fire crews doused hot spots to ensure that blaze was put out.

When the fire crews arrived at the scene, multiple fires could be seen on the third floor the length of the building. Enterline said the blaze was also on the roof. He said the fire had multiple points of origin.

“It’s early in the investigation but I can guarantee you one hundred percent this is a potentially set fire again,” Enterline said.

The earlier fire happened Tuesday in a vacant, basement apartment, with no source of accidental ignition, Enterline said. It was contained to the one apartment, he said.

No injuries were reported. However a ceiling that fell on a firemen caused him to have a bloody nose, he said.

Harrisburg police are investigating, he said.

Enterline said the building was in very poor condition and presented numerous challenges to firefighters. He described the garden style apartment building as a “death trap.”

“Again, these things are derelict inside,” he said. “There’s trash all over the place. The ceilings are pulled down. Water heaters are blocking doors for us. It’s really a death trap inside of there. It’s a disaster.”

Despite that, he said there were partial firewalls that helped prevent the fire from spread through the entire row.

Enterline was asked if the fire could have been set to slow up fire crews.

“We’re early in the investigation phase, but things were definitely done to impede our ingress to get the fire out, without a doubt.”

He said people who have been living inside the building for 10 years were displaced after the first fire, which happened Tuesday. People did evacuate from their homes when the Friday morning fire happened. Enterline is unsure of how many people were displaced.

“So we’re not talking about people coming these places and squatting. There were people living here for long periods of time,” he said. “That hard-earned money that they put into their rent was just filfered away by uptown partners, and this is the disaster that we have to deal with now.”

He said are residents need to “stay vigilant” and report anything suspicious. “If you see something say something,” he said. He also encourages residents to install cameras on the exterior of their homes as a deterrant.

“Vacant buildings have historically proven to be challenges for the city,” Enterline wrote in response to a PennLive query. “ Buildings can be boarded up one day, but wide open the next. Unfortunately if someone wants in, they will do whatever is necessary. Cameras have been helpful in investigations, but they have to have the right angle, right lighting, and capture good clear images to put a suspect at the arson scene.”

Harrisburg resident Shandra Stewart said “squatters” are a concern due to numerous homes and apartments in the area not being properly boarded up.

The city “is tearing down record numbers of buildings and doing our best to hold the slumlords accountable,” Enterline said. “We also board up buildings across the City on a regular basis. It is a never-ending cycle that requires a lot of time and resources.

Michael Lemelle said he noticed the flame started within a specific apartment building and spread to multiple homes. But he didn’t see anything suspcious.

“It’s sad because we’re so close to the governor’s mansion,” he said. “These homes have been abandoned for so long and they could be renovated into something really nice. And now that these fires keep happening it’s getting worse now.”