One dies in Thanksgiving Day fire
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LEWISTOWN -- A 49-year-old woman perished, and a handful of residents were temporarily displaced from their homes after an early morning fire on Thanksgiving day at Kish Apartments in Lewistown.
Shawna Snyder was identified by Mifflin County Acting Coroner Andrea L. Alcalde as the victim of the fire on Thursday. Autopsy results are pending at this time.
Fire companies were dispatched at 5:03 a.m. to the housing unit for an active fire. The Lewistown Fire Department -- which includes the City Hook and Ladder Fire Co. and Heritage Fire and Rescue Services - arrived on scene to find a fire in the kitchen of a third-floor apartment, bellowing heavy smoke.
"The fire was contained to the kitchen area of that apartment," Lewistown Fire Chief Bob Bartlett said.
A total of four residents were transported to Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital for treatment as well as one firefighter, who suffered from smoke inhalation, Bartlett said.
The Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall is handling the investigation of the cause of the fire. The Mifflin County Coroner's Office was also expected to release a report by today.
It took three hours to extinguish the blaze, Bartlett said.
The chief believes five or six other apartments were affected by smoke and water conditions. The Red Cross was also on scene and those residents are expected to be able to return to their homes today.
Bartlett said this marked the third major fire at Kish Apartments during the holidays over the past two and a half years. "The other two were caused by careless smoking," he recalled. "This one is to be
determined yet."
The Lewistown Fire Department was assisted on scene by numerous other agencies.
"There was major fire damage to the one apartment," Bartlett said. "And smoke throughout the building."