SHAMOKIN - A tenant said he was smoking "spice" when he accidentally set his Shamokin Street apartment ablaze early Wednesday, according to Shamokin police.
Matthew Allen, 36, was evaluated at Geisinger-Shamokin Area Community Hospital, Coal Township, after he was helped out of the third story of 45 S. Shamokin St. by Cpl. Jarrod Scandle and Patrolman Scott Weaver. The fire ignited about 5:40 a.m. and firefighters quickly extinguished the flames.
Scandle said Allen, a second floor tenant, admitted smoking synthetic marijuana, and that Allen wasn't sure if it was ash from a pipe or a cigarette that caused his mattress and headboard to catch fire.
Allen will be charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after two pipes were allegedly discovered inside. Further charges are pending investigation.
The building, owned by Larry Chubb, is located
in the middle of the block on the east side between Chestnut and Spruce streets. It's attached to a home to its north. There is a ground story unit, and another apartment consisting of the second and third stories, according to Stephen Jeffery, battalion chief of Shamokin Fire Bureau.
'Yo, your place is on fire'
A passerby alerted tenants to the fire after smoke and later flames were seen in the third floor, and all tenants evacuated safely.
"Someone was pounding at the door. We opened and he was like, 'yo, your place is on fire,'" said Dylan Kane, a ground story tenant.
Kane grabbed his 2-year-old son's blanket and a Jeep toy and fled with his girlfriend. Thankfully, he said, his son was staying with a relative. Kane said he moved into the building within the past month.
Scandle and Weaver were first on scene. The officers had a fire extinguisher but didn't deploy it. Smoke was filling the building fast and flames were spreading behind a bedroom door, which was kept shut out of safety concerns.
"The door was that hot, we couldn't do anything," Weaver said. "We didn't know what was on the other side."
The officers set up a ladder at the front of the building as fire engines arrived. A single hose was run up the ladder and through a front window on the third story, and a firefighter doused flames. Windows were opened and the exterior roof ventilated. The fire was extinguished in under 30 minutes.
Renters not insured
Ground story tenants were identified by Jeffery as Kane, 20, Stacy Rudy, 22, Jaden Kane, 2, and Tara Cossari, 38; second story, Allen, Kelly Allen, 36, Stephanie Farley, 41, Jacob Leiby, 13, and Kaleb Leiby, 12. No one had renter's insurance, Jeffery said. The tenants were offered assistance by the American Red Cross.
The building is not a total loss, Jeffery said. The third story is badly damaged, though, from fire, smoke and water. There's also water damage in the second and first stories, he said.
Timing of the fire likely made a difference. Many Shamokin Fire Bureau volunteers who work first shift were awake or nearly awake, Jeffery said. An hour later and response may not have been as fast, he added.
"Right now they're getting up for work," Jeffery said shortly after 6 a.m. "An hour would've changed it."