Accidental blaze causes hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage
Structural damage alone from Wednesday’s three-alarm blaze at the Grampian Hills Apartments was expected to be $450,000, according to fire investigators who also determined that the cause of the fire was accidental.
The blaze erupted on the back patio at 192 Valley Heights Drive, a ground-floor apartment in Building 6, where tenants were cooking on a grill about 4:40 p.m., Cpl. Nicholas A. Loffredo, a state police fire marshal said.
A total of 25 people were displaced by the fire, which destroyed six apartments in the 18-unit two-story building before it was brought under control an hour later.
Investigators declined to identify the tenants of the apartment where the fire started.
No one was injured.
The fire was caused by heat from the grill igniting gas that was leaking from a 25-pound propane tank attached to the grill, Loffredo said.
What caused the gas to leak, be it “a loose connection or malfunction,” is unknown, he added.
There was no explosion, but what some people likely heard was a whooshing sound, or perhaps the popping of windows that broke from the intense heat, Loffredo said.
Flames started to ignite patio furniture and then quickly spread to the balconies on the two upper floors, investigators said.
Nine tenants lived in the six destroyed apartments that were all in the far western end of the building, Loyalsock Township fire officials said. One apartment was vacant.
The middle section of the building, which consisted of six additional units, sustained an undetermined amount of smoke and water damage, township fire officials said.
The six apartments at the far end of the building did not sustain any damage.
While nine tenants will have to find permanent housing elsewhere, it was hoped that others displaced by the fire will be able to move back into their apartments soon. However, fire officials said there was no timetable in place as to when that will happen.
All the tenants have renter’s insurance, and the owner of the complex also has fire insurance.
The management of the apartment complex, which consists of 198 units spread out in 11 buildings, was doing everything possible to find housing for those displaced, fire officials said.
Efforts on Thursday to speak with the residential manager of the business were unsuccessful.
The local chapter of the American Red Cross also was providing emergency assistance.
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