Fire heavily damages Emmitsburg apartment building
Originally published April 03, 2010, 5:00 PM

By Karen Gardner

Frederick News-Post Staff

Emmitsburg -- A fire this morning heavily damaged a historic, 150-year-old building on Emmitsburg 's town square, displacing residents of the building's 16 apartments. No one was seriously hurt, but damage is estimated at $1.5 million.

There were a large number of pets in the building. Twenty-three finches and 22 cockatiels, along with several newborn cockatiel chicks, were taken to Frederick County Animal Control. All appeared to be unharmed, although soot covered several birds this morning. Two cats were missing.

The fire, which was reported at 5:59 a.m., started when a resident on the second floor apparently fell asleep while smoking a cigarette, fire officials said.

Fire companies from Adams and Franklin counties in Pennsylvania and Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties battled the blaze. Thirty-five pieces of equipment and 125 firefighters were involved. The fire was out by 9 a.m., but smoke continued to billow from the roof for much of the day.

Soot covered much of the large, three-story building, and heat caused the glass in many of the windows to break. The building had a gable roof and balconies on all three stories. Rafters poked out of the roof shingles. For much of the past 150 years, the building was known as the Slagle Hotel.

Splintered wood and glass littered the street in front of the building Saturday morning, along with suds and water from the effort to douse the fire.

Shortly after the fire broke out, the building's owner went through the building, banging on doors to make sure all the residents got out, several residents said.

Sherry Wike lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor with her fiancé and her 1-year-old daughter. Her brother, Daryl, was also staying in the apartment at the time. She woke up her family members and her cat, and got everyone out safely.

"I lost everything," she said. Her apartment is just above the apartment where the fire reportedly started. "We have no idea where we're going to end up."

The Red Cross set up a temporary disaster center in the parish hall of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, just a block from the building. A volunteer was advising a couple how much money they would receive to buy some supplies.

Brandon Fogle had his pug, Precious, on a leash outside the parish hall. He lived in a three-bedroom apartment on the first floor with Doug Renner, Renner's fiancé?e and Thomas Racine, the brother of the fiancé?e. The household also included several pet birds, which were with Animal Control.

The building's owner had renovated it a few years ago, and new smoke alarms were installed. Several residents said the smoke alarms alerted them of the fire.

Renner cut his hand and his leg trying to break glass to get to a fire extinguisher. Emergency medical technicians bandaged his hand, but advised him to get stitches when he could. "I want to know where we're going first," he said.

He does Civil War re-enactments, and had just bought a new authentic soldier's outfit. He was hoping to get back into the building to salvage that. He works in the Waynesboro, Pa., area as a distributor for Coca-Cola and coaches Little League baseball in Emmitsburg . He said everyone has been supportive. Renner had lived in the apartment for six years.

Frederick and Hilda Hanvey have lived in the Emmitsburg area for 20 years, and lived on a third-floor apartment in the building for the last four years. "The roof came down on top of our apartment," said Frederick Hanvey, 60. It was the second fire they had experienced. Six years ago, the couple rented a house on Taneytown Pike that caught fire.

Hilda Hanvey had a collection of dolphin-themed items and dolphin photos, along with family photos that she hoped not to lose. Their daughter-in-law, Michelle Hanvey, stood with them outside the Red Cross center.

"I live in Silo Hill," she said, referring to an Emmitsburg housing development. "They're going to come stay with us until they get things squared away." Frederick Hanvey is out of work. Hilda Hanvey said she woke up when she heard the fire alarm and only had time to put on a sweater and grab her pocketbook.

"The only thing you are guaranteed is family," her daughter-in-law said. "We're going shopping," she said to her mother-in-law.

Rodney Hutzell lived in a first-floor apartment with his two dogs. When he heard the fire alarm, he leashed up his dogs, a Boston terrier and a Schnauzer-fox terrier mix, and left. He didn't get anything else. "My dogs are more important than my clothes," he said. He plans to stay with his parents in Fairfield, Pa. He is self-employed doing window caulking, and said he would be all right financially.

Midview Properties has owned the building for 10 years, according to the firm's president, who would not give his name. He would not comment on whether the building was insured.

Lorie Reifsnider owns a flower shop across the square from the hotel. She lives about a mile away in the Northgate development, and could see the flames from her deck at home.

"The sirens woke me up," she said. "I saw the smoke." She sent her boyfriend to check out the fire and was relieved to learn it wasn't her building. She went to work and opened up her shop as temporary housing for the displaced birds, hamsters and rats. Relatives were keeping the hamsters and rats, according to Harold Domer, Animal Control director.

As she spoke, cockatiels chirped. "All of the cockatiels were soaking wet," she said. "I've done rescue in the past. They were all wet, out there in the cold. I said, 'Bring them in here.'" Animal Control officers removed the cages from her store a few at a time.

Reifsnider said she had many deliveries of Easter flowers to make, and would try to make them later Saturday and today. She planned to work all day Easter to make sure the flowers get delivered.

Stavros Pizza has been in the basement of the building for 30 years. The popular downtown pizza restaurant opened a few doors down in 1976, and moved to the old hotel in 1980. Bev Koontz began working at Stavros in 1980 and bought it two years ago. The business is a large part of her life, since the original Mr. Stavros taught her how to make the pizza when she started.

"I don't want to go inside, because that's going to be hard," she said. When she awoke Saturday morning, she saw the flames. She lives four houses from the building on South Seton Avenue.

She had been told that the restaurant had a lot of water damage, and the ceiling caved in in the dining room. "It doesn't look too good," she said.

Koontz said she will reopen. The business is insured.

Dot Damuth recalled going to the old Slagle Hotel as a child and seeing Santa Claus there. Every child in the area came to see Santa at the hotel, she said. A choir would sing Christmas carols. The building also housed a restaurant.

Mayor Jim Hoover said the town's Christmas tree lighting was there until a few years ago.

The Slagle Hotel, with its gabled front and three front balconies, was built in 1859. A photo of the hotel taken in 1920 hangs at the Jubilee Foods grocery store in Emmitsburg .

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