Shenandoah residents cautious about possible additional fires

Sept. 30--SHENANDOAH -- Borough residents are concerned about the rash of fires through early Sunday morning and are being vigilant in watching for suspicious behavior.

While arson is suspected in the four blazes that destroyed or severely damaged 13 unoccupied homes, the investigation continues by the state police fire marshal and borough fire officials and an official determination is still awaited.

The first call for firefighters came at 12:17 a.m. to respond to a working fire at a vacant home at 129 E. Lloyd St. The fire spread to two vacant homes on North Bower Street.

Within an hour, a second alarm was sounded for a fire at vacant properties on the 100 block of North Ferguson Street adjacent to the former Capitol Theater building, followed by a third fire alarm 47 minutes later at 401 E. Centre St., which also damaged properties on North Union Street.

At 5:22 a.m., the fourth call for firefighters went out for a blaze at vacant homes on the 400 block of South Ferguson Street.

Toni Chupasco was near her property at the corner of Lloyd and Bower streets and located diagonally from the fire site on Monday morning. She and her husband, Benjamin, were away camping when the fire occurred. The Chupascos experienced a fire on June 22 when the home at 204 E. Lloyd St. was destroyed by fire and damaged their property.

"That was an accident waiting to happen," Chupasco said of the abandoned dilapidated property. "If someone was setting fire to buildings, it really is a concern. If they did this here, what would they do to anyone else? We were two hours away camping on Sunday. If they (firefighters) hadn't stopped it when they did, can you imagine what could have happened?"

Resident Jacqueline Tym lives about a block away from the Lloyd Street property. As she walked by the damaged property, she was asked about her concerns.

"Of course I'm scared," Tym said. "With all these fire so close to home, it's too close for me and my grandson. It's very scary. A lot of these abandoned homes have dopers going into them. Needles are found inside many of them."

About a block north of the fire is Shenandoah Village Apartments, which is home to 35 residents, one of whom is Ann Lombardo, who was outside near the entrance late Monday morning. She could not see the fire from her apartment, but she knew of it when it was happening.

"It's a shame, but thank God there were no families living in them," Lombardo said.

Lombardo said she feels safe at Shenandoah Village and has no additional concerns for her safety.

"I think we're pretty safe here," she said. "I think whoever is doing it on empty houses. If you ask me, they're just getting a thrill out of it. It's a shame. It's actually not safe to go out at night. You have to keep everything locked up."

Mary Ann Link is the property manager of the building. She said the building does have security.

"There were two tenants down here today and told me about the fire and that it was close," Link said. "It is a semi-secure building, and the people here appreciated that fact. You have to ring someone's phone in order to get in. They do feel safe here."

Link is very pleased by the assistance of the borough police and firefighters, who come in to explain safety issues that helps educate our residents.

"The police come here as soon as they're called," Link said.

At the North Ferguson Street fire, some local residents came to look at the damage building. At one point, a driver decided to back up to get a better look and almost crashed into the car behind him. Brian Briksza lives on the opposite side of the block with his mother and uncle. He stopped by with his girlfriend, Nicole Ott.

"My mom and my uncle are on oxygen," Briksza said.

Ott said they have many complaints about people coming and going from the vacant property, which she called a "stash house."

"The fires are everywhere now, and now you have to worry about someone setting row houses on fire," Ott said. "What happens if they start getting that crazy, if it's an arsonist?"

On North Union Street, Amanda Wehr lives just down the block from the fire. There are abandoned properties behind her home, which has her concerned about the safety of her three children, her boyfriend and herself.

"It was scary, especially because they were all abandoned," Wehr said about the blaze nearby on Sunday. "There are no people living in the house right behind mine, so it's a concern that somebody would set them on fire back there."

Wehr said precautions are being taken after Sunday's fires.

"We're keeping the lights on at night," she said. "Maybe they'll think there is someone there and won't mess with it. I'm hoping that whoever is doing it (setting the fires) has some kind of conscience. That could be why they set the fires at abandoned houses and hopefully they don't want to hurt anybody."

Borough Manager Joseph L. Palubinsky said the situation is being evaluated on the causes and what steps will be taken to deal with the damaged properties.

"Our normal procedures are that we will pursue the owners of record," Palubinsky said. "If there are any options to them, they will have to pursue them."

Palubinsky said it still has to be determined if it was arson, but he said that such fires endanger the lives of volunteer firefighters, create hazardous situations with the properties and that affect neighboring persons and properties.

"The Lloyd Street home has probably the most serious structural damage," Palubinsky said. "It's still too early to determine conditions of all the properties."

As for the damaged home at 204 E. Lloyd St., Palubinsky said the insurance company has provided a check for $26,000 to be placed in escrow, which will be used if no action is taken to demolish the property.

Anyone who sees any suspicious activity is asked to contact the Schuylkill County Communications Center by calling 911. Anyone with information about the Sunday fires that could help with the investigation should call borough police through the county's non-emergency line at 570-462-1991.

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