By: Katherine Harmon
The Evening Sun
Three families were displaced Thursday after a 3-year-old girl accidentally started a fire in a West Manheim Township house, officials said.
Firefighters were called to the 2941 Baltimore Pike residence just before noon Thursday after a 3-year-old girl placed a piece of clothing or cloth onto an electric space heater, according to Pleasant Hill Co. Fire Chief Ted Clousher.
Once the cloth caught fire, Clousher said, the girl pulled it off the heater and it landed on a nearby bed, which erupted in flames.
A 5-year-old boy ran downstairs and alerted an adult, who grabbed both children and got them safely out of the house, Clousher said.
Firefighters from Pleasant Hill, Penn Township and Manchester, Md. were able to extinguish the flames in 15 minutes. They remained on the scene for three hours, as a fire marshal with the Pennsylvania State Police arrived to help determine the cause.
No one was injured in the fire, but a code officer from the township declared the house uninhabitable until there is remodeling and the electric is repaired, Clousher said.
The second-floor bedroom where the fire started was heavily damaged, Clousher said. A second bedroom sustained major smoke damage, and a downstairs room had water damage in the ceiling, he added.
The Greater Hanover Red Cross responded to the home and helped the residents find lodging. They will continue to assist the families in the coming weeks, according to a Red Cross press release.
