Thursday April 19, 2018 12:01 AM
Cause of fire that destroyed Shillington duplex still unknown
The Saturday morning blaze left a woman in critical condition.
Written by Steven Henshaw
Shillington, PA —
A cause has not been determined in the blaze that destroyed two homes in a Shillington duplex last weekend, leaving a 53-year-old woman in critical condition, a state police fire marshal said Thursday.
The fire was discovered about 1:15 a.m. Saturday at 311-313 Wyomissing Ave., just nine hours after a multi-alarm blaze destroyed a duplex in Cumru Township seven blocks away.
The fire started on the rear common porch, but investigators haven't been able to pinpoint a cause, Trooper John F. Burns said.
Both homes were gutted, causing losses in excess of $100,000, he said.
An occupant of 311 N. Wyomissing Ave., Stephanie McFadden, was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital, near Allentown, for smoke and heat inhalation.
McFadden remained in critical condition in the burn unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Her partner, Sharon Bedell, 49, was attending a conference in Chicago when the fire happened. Their cat and two dogs did not survive.
The occupants of the other home, at 313, were Renee Rocco, 64, and two grandchildren, Kaden, 16, and Ocean, 11.
Rocco told the Reading Eagle at the scene of the fire that she was out with a friend when she received a frantic call from one of the children saying the house was on fire. She raced home, arriving before firefighters.
McFadden was hanging from a bedroom window on the other side of the duplex, Rocco said. She was taken down a ladder by firefighters.
A firefighter involved in the rescue was treated in Reading Hospital for smoke inhalation, officials said.
Shillington and assisting fire companies had the fire out by 2:30 a.m. Not other injuries were reported.
Rocco said she has been taking care of her grandchildren since her daughter died in 2006. They moved to Berks County from South Dakota four years ago but had only moved into the home in January.
The American Red Cross Tri-County Chapter is assisting the families.
The other fire, which broke out late last Friday afternoon at the duplex at 492-494 S. Wyomissing Ave. in Cumru, was accidentally started by a child playing with a barbecue lighter, township Fire Chief James Beane said.
A total of five adults and eight children, all of whom attend the Gov. Mifflin School District, were displaced from the four homes.
Some Gov. Mifflin High School students have organized a fundraiser for families that lost nearly all their possessions.
They approached Hamid Chaudhry, owner of Wyomissing Restaurant and Bakery, for help. Chaudhry, who has a daughter in the high school, said he'll be hosting a buffet fundraiser on Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $13 and can be purchased in advance at the main office of any Mifflin school building.
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Saturday April 14, 2018 07:00 AM
Firefighters rescue Shillington woman during early morning fire
The woman was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown for treatment. Her three pets did not survive.
Written by Stephanie Weaver
Renee Rocco was out with a friend early this morning when she received a chilling call from her grandchildren that their Shillington duplex was on fire.
“I had just left and was up there for half an hour when they called, just screaming bloody murder,” she said.
Rocco said she frantically sped home about 3 miles to the 300 block of North Wyomissing Avenue, beating the firetrucks to the scene, but could only stand and watch in disbelief as flames engulfed the back of the home.
The children, ages 16 and 11, and their two friends had escaped safely, but Rocco said her neighbor, Stephanie McFadden, was trapped and hanging out of a second-floor bedroom window on the other side of the duplex.
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Firefighters rescued McFadden and she was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown for treatment of unspecified injuries. A hospital spokeswoman said today that McFadden was in critical condition.
The fire was seven blocks from a fire just nine hours earlier in the 400 block of South Wyomissing Avenue in Cumru Township. A short stretch of Wyomissing Avenue connecting Shillington and Mohnton is in the township.
Officials said both fires were at duplexes and both fires started on the rear porches. They did not talk about any connection between the fires.
McFadden's three pets — two dogs and a cat — didn't survive. Rocco said McFadden's partner, who also lives in the home, is in Chicago and wailed when she called early today to pass along the tragic news. Rocco did not have the name and officials didn't provide it.
“Everything's gone,” Rocco said.
Shillington Fire Company Deputy Chief Tim Deamer said the call for the two-alarm fire came in at about 1:15 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they found flames ripping through the back porches of the duplex.
Deamer said the firefighter who rescued McFadden was also taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The chief didn't provide the name or further details on the injuries.
The fire was under control by 2:30 a.m. and crews cleared the scene about 6:30 a.m. Deamer said the cause is still under investigation and a state police fire marshal has been called in.
‘Freaking nightmare'
Sitting in her idling vehicle later this morning, Rocco sighed as she looked across the street at the boarded-up windows of the house. She hadn't been able to sleep all night and had just finished combing through the home for possessions she could salvage.
She's been taking care of her grandchildren, Kaden, 16, and Ocean, 11, since her daughter died in 2006. They moved to Berks from South Dakota four years ago, but had only moved into the home in January.
Rocco said the Red Cross came out and is helping them have a place to stay since they can't return to the home.
“I've sat here all night,” she said.
Rocco said it was surreal to walk through the home and back yard, where her garage door and a white fence had both melted from the heat. She said the kitchen and back bedrooms were completely destroyed, but somehow the baby blanket Kaden had from her mother was untouched. Rocco found a similar miracle in Ocean's room, where his teddy bear sat undamaged.
“The only room not damaged is mine,” she said. “Everything's black. The ceilings, the walls, everything.
“It's a freaking nightmare.”
Earlier fire
The Friday afternoon fire, which went to five alarms, started under the rear porch at 492 S. Wyomissing Ave.
About 75 firefighters from 12 companies, including two from Lancaster County, responded to the fire and brought it under control in two hours. No injuries were reported to residents or firefighters.
Most of the damage was contained to 492 and 494 S. Wyomissing Ave. Both had extensive fire and smoke damage and structural damage.
Heat damaged the neighboring properties at 496 and 498 S. Wyomissing Ave., melting the siding.
No damage estimate was available, and a Cumru Township fire marshal was investigating.