Barn fire destroys Centre Hall mayor’s Grange Fair materials, leads to power outages
Nearly 1,000 customers in Centre Hall lost power Wednesday afternoon after several local fire departments battled a blaze with a power line against a building.
One firefighter was transferred to Mount Nittany Medical Center for evaluation, after receiving a shock at the scene. And another was treated on the scene for minor injuries related to heat, according to Centre Hall Fire Chief Harry Hockenberry.
No person or animal was inside the building on the 100 block of East Potter Street when it caught fire. And no other buildings or structures were in danger from the blaze, which took about 2 hours to extinguish.
According to both officials and public information, the 19th century building was owned by Centre Hall Mayor LeDon Young and was largely used for storage. Young told the CDT she lost all her Christmas decorations, yard sale inventory, materials for her Grange Fair tent, etc., in the barn/carriage house that was built in 1898.
The power line presumably caused the fire — but no cause has yet been officially determined, and it wasn’t immediately known why the power line came out of place.
West Penn Power crews were on the scene by early Wednesday afternoon. According to the company, more than 800 customers were without power for at least two hours, but power was fully restored by the late afternoon.
Fire companies were dispatched to the scene just before noon Wednesday. Among those responding included, but were not limited to, Centre Hall Fire Company, Boalsburg Fire Company, Miles Township Fire Company, Pleasant Gap Fire Company and Undine Fire Company.
Abby Drey contributed to this report
