Christmas decorations were the likely cause. Smoke detectors where the deaths occurred had no batteries.
By Kathy Matheson
Associated Press
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A predawn fire apparently sparked by Christmas decorations ripped through four rowhouses yesterday, killing five adults, officials said.
The electrical fire, which also injured eight people, started in an area where decorations were plugged into a power strip joined to an extension cord, authorities said. It was preliminarily ruled accidental, Allentown Fire Capt. Robert Scheirer said.
Investigators were trying to determine if the wiring had failed, if a specific ornament had shorted out, or if something else had caused the fire, Scheirer said. A Christmas tree was nearby, but it was not immediately clear if or how it factored into the fire, he said.
Firefighters had the blaze under control about a half-hour after it started at 6:30 a.m. on the first floor of the house, which, according to the Allentown Morning Call, was at 6241/2 Park St. Three men and two women in upstairs bedrooms were killed.
The Lehigh County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Barbara Houx, 52; Casundra Miller, 28; Shawn Sandt, 22; Randy Keding, 27; and Allen Lindenmuth, 48. Lehigh County Coroner Scott M. Grim said Miller was pregnant but declined to say how many months. All died of smoke inhalation, the Coroner’s Office said in a statement.
There were no working smoke detectors in the building, Scheirer said.
“They would have had time to escape, had the smoke detector sounded,” Scheirer said.
Firefighters rescued two adults and six children from the rowhouse next door, Scheirer said. The injured were treated for smoke inhalation at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown and released.
Neighbor Rafael Canizares, 40, said he awoke to people screaming “Fire!” He helped get his mother out in the early-morning darkness, and the two watched and prayed from a nearby porch. He said he was relieved to watch firefighters carry one child out of the adjacent home and to see others walk out on their own.
“I remember hearing people calling for help. It’s the worst feeling in the world,” said Canizares, who watched flames shoot out of several houses and saw several front porches ablaze.
The other burning homes either were vacant or had people inside who escaped on their own, Scheirer said. Four other houses on the street sustained smoke damage.
Family friend Tonya Ebner, 31, arrived at the scene in tears and disbelief. Recalling the two female victims, Ebner said she found Houx baking mounds of Christmas cookies recently.
“Everybody called her ‘Mom,’ ” Ebner said. “This isn’t fair. This isn’t right.”
Other friends and colleagues described Houx as a generous person who was active in the community.
“She would give to anybody, no matter what they needed,” said Brenda Pun, 41, of South Allentown.
Ebner described Miller as a “jokester” who was fun to be around.
Everett Bickford, 56, who had lived in the house until about two months ago, described Houx as a grandmother who was active in civic groups. He said he and Houx had performed as clowns together at local parades and other events.
“It’s horrendous,” Bickford said.
The victims were found on the second and third floors. Smoke detectors were located in the basement and third floor, but had no batteries, authorities said.
The blaze marked the city’s first fatal fire since 2004, the mayor’s office said.
“This is a terrible tragedy, not just for the families who have lost loved ones, but for the Stephens Park neighborhood and the residents of the city,” Mayor Ed Pawlowski said.
Four homes were condemned, and a fifth was being examined. The American Red Cross was providing aid to four families displaced.