Henderson St. Fire Cause Undetermined

LOCK HAVEN — The loss has been placed at $100,000 and the cause undetermined in a Sunday morning fire in the 300 block of N. Henderson Street.

Lock Haven fire chief Norm Wolfrom told therecord-online the fire started on a ground level back porch just before 8 o’clock Sunday morning. Heat from the fire caused the gas inside a propane tank to expand, Wolfrom said; the chief said the gas exited a tank overflow valve and acted like a blowtorch, sending flames upward into the eaves and attic area of the two-and-a-half story brick duplex.

Wolfrom said firemen had to cut away a portion of the roof to get at the flames and were in service until 10 a.m. He estimated damage at $75,000 to the structure and $25,000 to the contents of the apartment occupied by Sandy Wenderling and Robert Long. An adjacent apartment was occupied by five college-age men; Wolfrom said they left the building and returned to their homes after the fire.

The Lock Haven chief reported a state police fire marshal was on the scene Sunday morning and the fire cause is undetermined at this point. He said the building is owned by Kevin Conrad and Kevin Schimdt. A clean-up crew was at work at the site today.