Four homes were destroyed by fire early Thursday morning on
Kennedy Street, leaving 11 people homeless and nearly an entire
city block decimated.
The cause of the fire – which lit up the night sky and could be
seen across the Tuna Valley as it shot up embers nearly 50 feet
into the air – is suspected arson but was officially being called
undetermined as of early Thursday afternoon.
There were no serious injuries reported to either the residents
or rescue personnel, although one elderly man was transported to
Bradford Regional Medical Center for breathing difficulties not
related to the fire or smoke exposure. A cat and turtle were
believed to have died in the 2:28 a.m. fire.
Damage is estimated at $400,000, according to fire
officials.
“It was like a big fire bomb went off in the middle (of the
homes),” Bradford City Fire Chief Bill McCormack said, adding the
heat exposure prevented firefighters from getting close to the
burning structures. “The fire just spread too quickly. We couldn’t
contain it. We couldn’t stop it.”
Fire officials said the blaze – which was fought by the city and
Bradford Township Volunteer Fire Department – claimed homes located
at 166, 170, 174 and 176 Kennedy St.
Trooper Greg Agosti, a fire marshal out of the Ridgway-based
state police barracks, said the origin of the fire came from 170
Kennedy – which was vacant – before spreading to the nearby
homes.
According to McCormack, upon arrival, firefighters discovered
170 Kennedy, owned by Debra L. Miczo, 47, of 123 Wilwood Ave.,
Emporium, was engulfed in flames, and the fire had already spread
to the back of 166 Kennedy. McCormack said the fire then traveled
to 174 and 176 Kennedy, respectively.
Bradford City Police Chief Roger Sager said the department
received a call at 2:28 a.m.; two minutes later an officer at the
scene reported the fire.
Sager said Patrolman Jason Daugherty forcibly entered a home
where an elderly lady lived in a downstairs apartment. Daugherty
apparently knocked on the windows and doors at the residence but to
no avail. That’s when he kicked open a door leading inside.
“I’m grateful nobody got hurt,” Sager said. “Especially in a
situation where there are multiple buildings on fire.”
Officials said the home at 166 Kennedy is owned by Frank
Harriger Sr. of Bradford and was occupied by three different
households – Frank Harriger Jr. and his wife Cari and their sons,
Jayson, 10, and Jordan, 2; Val Harris, 27, and her two children,
Trinity, 5, and Joshua, 3; and Reed Henshaw, 19.
Meanwhile, the home at 174 Kennedy was owned by Jeff Day, 24,
and occupied by Day and his father, George Day, 70, who suffered
the breathing difficulties. The house at 176 Kennedy was owned by
Steve Kloss of Lewis Run and was broken into two apartments. One
was occupied by Cindy Capps, 48, and the other was vacant.
According to city fire Lt. Chris Angell, the homes at 170 and
166 Kennedy were three-story Victorian-style houses. The home at
176 Kennedy was two stories, while the one at 174 could not be
determined.
“They were all wood and all older,” Angell said. “They were
producing enormous amounts of heat.”
The homes were also tightly packed together in the middle class
neighborhood, which sits on a fairly steep hill overlooking Jackson
Avenue in the city’s fourth ward. Only a 5 to 10 foot gap between
166 Kennedy and an adjacent abandoned home kept the fire from
spreading to it and another home at 158 Kennedy, which was gutted
by fire last November.
The top of Kennedy is intersected with Leigh Street.
Asked about the proximity of the homes and how that played into
the fire spreading, Angell said “that has always been our biggest
nemesis with homes in the city.”
“When you have homes so close together, when you get there and
the heat is so intense, even all the water the fire trucks can
produce won’t prevent the next two homes from going.
“In 99 out of 100 cases, we contain the fire to just one
home.”
Angell said 176 Kennedy was prevented from burning completely
down due to firefighters focusing on preventing the fire’s further
spread.
“While it did suffer significant damage, the fire wasn’t going
to Leigh Street,” Angell said. “Bradford Township also has to get
credit for helping to make sure of that.”
Despite the steep incline at the top of Kennedy, Angell said the
departments had adequate water supply to fight the blaze.
“Water pressure didn’t hinder us at all,” Angell said.
Bradford City Water Authority Executive Director Kim Benjamin
said he estimated somewhere in the neighborhood of 700,000 to
800,000 gallons of water was used to fight the fire. Benjamin added
in the higher elevations of the city, the water hydrants don’t
deliver as much pressure.
“In the overall scheme of things, we didn’t have anybody without
water or water pressure,” Benjamin said, adding there is 5 million
gallons of water storage available for downtown. “It just takes a
while to make up for the water that was lost. We kicked up our rate
a little bit to make up for that.”
During the course of the fire – the largest to strike a
residential neighborhood in years – upwards of 40 onlookers watched
as the fire merged into one, forcing portions of the mammoth homes
to come crashing down into the inferno below.
Family members and neighbors could also be seen hugging and
offering each other condolences as they watched helplessly. The
fire was so intense, it melted the siding of homes across the
street, but strangely enough, left large trees surrounding the area
with little damage.
On Thursday morning, Frank and Cari Harriger sat on a curb
across from the remains of their home, which was a shell following
the fire, but had been leveled by an excavator during an emergency
demolition of the four structures.
Cari Harriger said the couple found out their home was on fire
after her husband got out of bed to use the bathroom.
“The house next to us (170 Kennedy) was already on fire,” she
said. “Frank saw the glow of the fire through the windows. It went
up so quickly. We literally just got the family out of the house
and it was gone.
“It’s unbelievable. You look up and your house is on fire. We
were able to get out of house with our children, our lives and the
clothes on our back. We couldn’t even get our wallets.”
The Harrigers – who are temporarily being sheltered across the
street by neighbors – had lived in the house for 10 years. “My
mother-in-law picked out this house and she fell in love with
it.”
Now the only thing standing is a large stump of an aged tree,
which is filled with concrete after being damaged years ago. “It’s
the only thing standing … there is nothing left.”
The couple does have their vehicle, however, which was sitting
across the street from the rubble.
“The firemen searched the rubble for our car keys, but we can’t
get inside because the computer chip was melted,” Cari said.
A neighbor, Ron Orris, who’s home is situated kitty-corner and
across the street from the Herrigers, said he and his wife, Terri,
woke up to discover “people running down the street and the (fire)
trucks already there.”
“I’m 62-years-old and the fire that happened at the house on the
corner (in November) was the first one I’ve ever seen,” Orris said.
“Now, seven months later, I never would have dreamed I would see
the whole street go. It’s still a nice street, despite what
happened.”
What happened was likely a result of arson, according to
McCormack, who said its “one of the hardest things to prove.”
“The house (170 Kennedy) didn’t just burn by itself,” McCormack
said, adding no utility service had been connected to it for at
least six months.
An accelerant-sniffing dog was brought into the scene from State
College, but was not immediately used upon arrival due to the
devastation of the scene, which could be seen still smoldering as
of Thursday afternoon as numerous passers-by roamed up and down the
street.
A short while before the fire broke out, Sager said police were
called to look into a report of a bear walking down Kennedy Street
in the same area of the blaze. Sager would not release the exact
time of the call pending a possible investigation, but added the
bear was actually seen by the officers.
