Three homes on 2nd Ave. in New Cumberland were destroyed as fire swept through an apartment owned by Linda Grysko and continued on to destroy two additional homes.
Grysko made a call to the New Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department at 11:15 Monday night. The fire moved swiftly from the apartment to ravage two more homes: the house directly in front of the apartment owned by Roger Littell and the home of Bob and Laurie (Rainey) Mehaffey. The Mehaffey’s home was Laurie’s childhood home and was first owned by Laurie’s parents.
According to Mayor Will White, 8 to 9 other homes in the area were impacted by the fire with melted siding and broken glass.
New Cumberland Fire Chief Mike White said that the response from fire departments coming to assist was tremendous. Twenty-six fire departments answered the call and in addition to neighboring departments included departments from Columbiana, Brooke County, Beaver County and as far away as Allegheny County. Tankers were brought in with water as the New Cumberland hydrants struggled to provide the necessary water as the fire raged through the night.
As of 2 p.m., Tuesday the Grysko apartment and Littell house were torn down. Mayor White said the Mehaffey home would be torn down on Tuesday.
Linda Grysko is staying with her neighbors, Howard and Maureen Vulgamore and the Mehaffeys are in Newell with family. Rev. Rick Tinsky of the Christian Church said the clothes closet is available to assist and the Red Cross has already been notified of the need.
