Limerick Residents Lose Home in Fire

A Limerick home on West Ridge Pike was lost to an electrical fire on Friday, December 6, at around 4:30 in the morning. 

Police and fire crews responded to the mobile home park on West Ridge Pike at 3:30am after the residents called 911 for help. 

Residents James and Melanie Thees told police and fire officials that they were awakened by smoke alarms. When they checked the home, they found smoke coming from behind a living room wall. 

Although the fire department arrived shortly after being dispatched, the fire had already flared up and been knocked down twice by Officers John Cassel and Shawn Pancoast. Cassel and Pancoast tried to extinguish the fire with his patrol car's extinguisher, but the fire was too extensive. 

Limerick Fire Department attempted to fight the fire but it was too widespread. The home and its contents were destroyed. 

Homeowner Deborah Rowland, who had been out of the house at the time of the fire, told police and fire officials that she didn't have homeowners insurance. Authorities investigating the fire said it appeared to be electrical in nature and nothing was suspicious. 

The Red Cross was called in to assist the family. The family went to stay with relatives in Pottstown. 

Unfortunately, the family lost their belongings and their Christmas gifts for the two children who lived in the home. 

Red Cross volunteer Ed Kershner told Lower Providence Patch that the Red Cross coordinated with the United States Marine Corps' Toys for Tots campaign to send gifts for the children to the family's temporary residence in Pottstown. 

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