Police wait for engineers to examine Codorus Township fatal house fire

Dec. 18--Update, Dec. 18, 9:47 a.m.

Police are waiting for a group of engineers to examine a Codorus Township home that burned and exploded in September, killing one woman, before making a ruling, Trooper Brad Dunham said Wednesday.

Dunham said physical and mechanical engineers, representing parties such as the homeowner and the propane supplier to the house, need to conduct examinations.

Brenda Jean Smith, 48, who lived in the home on Sticks Road, died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, according to the York County Coroner's Office.

"From our end, there's not really much more that we are doing until we get some of that stuff back," from the engineers, Dunham said. "They (the engineers) have to go out and there's testing they have to do, a whole gamut of stuff."

He said the engineers had recently planned to visit the site, but that the snow storms of late put a damper on the plans.

"That was all pushed back to the first of the year," he said. "Everybody has to be there; some are coming from different states."

Update, Oct. 9, 2:48 p.m.

Pennsylvania State Police say the cause of the Sept. 23 fire and explosion in Codorus Township that killed a 48-year woman is undetermined, but that they continue to investigate.

Update, 9:43 a.m.

Pennsylvania State Trooper Brad Dunham, a fire marshal investigating the fire, said today he will return to the scene of the fire and explosion either Friday or Monday.

Dunham said he needs to get "all the parties" that have a stake in the investigation, including the homeowner's insurance company and the company that supplied propane to the home, there at the same time.

Update, Thursday, 9 a.m.

The York County Coroner's Office has released the name of the victim as 48-year-old Brenda Jean Smith, who lived in the home.

Firefighters arrived Monday night at the Codorus Township home on Sticks Road and found it had already been reduced to a pile of flaming rubble, a fire official said.

"All those floors pancaked on top of each other," Glen Rock Hose and Ladder Assistant Chief Mike Naylor said Tuesday morning, stretching his hand out to show the structure had collapsed to about 4 feet high.

Firefighters, called to the house at 8:49 p.m., knew there was the possibility a female resident was inside, based on what neighbors were telling them, he said.

Still, they hoped that maybe she had gotten a ride from someone and had left her car there, he said.

"With the amount of fire we already had and that it had collapsed, we had no chance to get in there," Naylor said.

State police fire marshals pulled the woman's body from the rubble at 2:32 a.m.

Late Tuesday morning, an autopsy was performed on the body of the woman found inside. She died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, according to the York County Coroner's Office.

An office spokeswoman said investigators believe they know the woman's identity, but want to confirm it by checking dental records, which could take a few days.

Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Brad Dunham continued to investigate what caused the explosion and fire at the house on Tuesday.

"He has not released anything yet," Naylor said of Dunham Tuesday afternoon. "He hasn't pinpointed the cause."

Naylor said agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were helping Dunham investigate.

"They were there last night; apparently, there's some kind of working relationship" between state police and the bureau, he said.

He added that state police called in the bureau agent "for his expertise ... they needed the extra help."

Naylor said that in battling the fire, getting water was a challenge, because a nearby creek's levels were too low.

"We had to go all the way into town to get to a hydrant," he said. "They actually laid hose from Wetzel's Grocery Store to here -- about 6,000 feet."

Homeowner Bill Davis, who lives next door with his wife, said Monday the explosion "sounded like an atomic bomb went off."

Also Tuesday morning, Sarah Boyle, 29, said that she and husband David Boyle, 32, didn't know the woman who died very well. They have lived in their home for about three years, she said.

"I knew her to wave," she said.

She added that the woman was a "very nice lady ... It's really sad."

@TedCzechYDR; 771-2033

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