Quick stop saves Girard Mansion, holds fire damage to single room
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Girardville firefighters use their tanker-mounted deck gun to gain control of Friday's fire at the Girard Mansion on Oct. 9, 2020.
GIRARDVILLE – Firefighters from across northern Schuylkill County made quick work of a fire at a historic building in this borough Friday.
Fire broke out in the Girard Mansion at Mahanoy and Second Streets just before noon.
Girardville Fire Chief Frank Zangari said crews arrived to find fire blowing out of a second story window in the front of the massive building. He said the fire was held to a room-and-contents fire, with water damage extending through the rest of the building.
Zangari said the cause of the blaze was electrical, from a six-outlet plug with “way too many plugs, including an electric heater.”
The mansion is undergoing renovations, Zangari said, and two people were inside at the time of the fire working on it. Both escaped safely.
The owner, Don Kuntz, was taken to the hospital for fears he had had a heart attack. He was released from the hospital and is on his way home, Zangari said.
The building dates back to 1832, making it 40 years older than the borough itself. It was built to house the land agent of the Girard Estate.
“The history of that building is unreal,” Zangari said. “There’s 20-some rooms in that building. And there’s a smoke alarm in every room.”
“The woodwork, the murals that are on the wall, it’s just beautiful,” Zangari added.
Zangari said that, as the fire was brought under control, he prioritized clearing his second alarm units so they could respond to Trenton to assist Delano Township firefighters on their own two-alarm blaze.
No firefighters were injured in the firefight.
Assisting Girardville’s two fire companies were firefighters from Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, Ashland, William Penn, Mahanoy City, and more.
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