Christmas night fire displaces Shamokin residents

Dec. 26--SHAMOKIN -- A Christmas night fire displaced a family of three Sunday on the city's east side.

Fire ignited in the front living room of 832 E. Chestnut St. shortly before 8 p.m.

According to Patrolman Nate Rhodes, flames and smoke were visible from the sidewalk. No one was home, he said.

Rhodes said he kicked in a basement door to ventilate the residence before knocking in the front door. Rhodes, code enforcement officer Rick Bozza and firefighter Patrick Kazmerski then entered the home.

"The fire was spread across the couch and shooting up to the ceiling," Rhodes said. "We put three fire extinguishers on it and waited for the fire department."

City firefighters arrived and had the blaze fully extinguished in about 10 minutes, according to Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Rogers.

"They put a quick hit on it and slowed the fire down until we showed up and ran hose line," Rogers said.

Joy Wahl, 54, her 17-year-old daughter, Madison Bradshaw, and Bradshaw's 1-month-old son, Jordan Lahr, rent 832 E. Chestnut St.

Wahl said she was at work when she learned of the fire.

Bradshaw said she and her boyfriend turned on a living room lamp and unplugged a space heater before leaving the home for a drive to Sunbury.

"We made it as far as Geisinger when I got a phone call," Bradshaw said of Geisinger-Shamokin Area Community Hospital, about a 5 minute drive from the scene of the fire.

"I'm sick," Wahl said. "We lost everything on Christmas."

Wahl said she did not have renter's insurance.

The building is owned by Ron Shepard, of Shamokin. It sustained severe damage to the living room and smoke and water damage in other portions of the property.

The neighbor in the half-double next door, Maryann Fleming, 67, of 834 E. Chestnut St., escaped. Her home sustained smoke and minimal water damage, Rogers said.

Friends at the scene were considering taking Fleming to a local hospital for evaluation.

Rogers said Wahl, her daughter and grandson are temporarily displaced. Fleming would be able to return, he added.

Patrolman Ray Siko, Shamokin's fire investigator, investigated the scene for a cause.

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