The house owned by Tom and Kim Tandy sustained heavy damage Tuesday afternoon, when the roof of the front porch caught fire.
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The York Fire Department was dispatched to the large house at 807 East Fifth, around 1 p.m. When they arrived, flames were coming from the porch roof with smoke pouring into the neighborhood.
Quickly, the firefighters doused the flames and climbed atop the porch. From there, they began to dismantle the layers of metal and apparent old wood, in order to reach the flames that were still spreading.
Firefighters also entered the house with hoses and went to the second floor.
A contractor was on the scene, who said he had been working on that area of the porch prior to the fire. He told York Fire Chief Kevin Stuhr that he had been cutting through the metal overlay — then he went to lunch. When he came back, the fire had already erupted.
The investigation continues into the exact cause of the blaze.
The amount of damage, dollar-wise, was not immediately available.
The Tandys have struggled with difficulties involving the house in recent years. They found after purchasing the residence that it has high levels of lead contamination, despite the fact it passed an inspection when they moved in, in 2004. It was in July, 2007, when they were told their one-year-old son had extremely high levels of lead in his blood. That’s when they discovered that the lead contamination is everywhere.
Last December, more than 50 young people, as part of the Missions (AIM) program from Lubbock, Texas, drove to York to help the Tandys rip out all the woodwork that had been painted with lead paint. They also stripped and repainted/retreated everything — ripping out the carpets and cleaning the walls, ceilings, floors, etc. Volunteers have continued to help the Tandy family in “rehabing their house” — it wasn’t clear whether Tuesday’s fire will inhibit them from being able to remain in the house at the current time. The structural damage appeared to be contained to the porch area — although that couldn’t be confirmed.
Responding to the scene were two fire trucks, an ambulance and the aerial truck (because of the height of the house, they brought it to the scene just in case). York police officers directed traffic off Sixth Street.
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