DNA Testing Required In Fatal Fire At 124-Year-Old Harrisburg Rowhome: Officials

DNA testing will be required to identify a woman who died in a fire at a rowhome built over 124 years ago, authorities explained on Wednesday, Sept. 17 and public records show.

The scene of the row home fire in the 200 block of North 15th Street in Harrisburg.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy of Dustin Weese*

Firefighters at the scene of the row home fire in the  200 block of North 15th Street in Harrisburg. — Firefighters at the scene of the row home fire in the 200 block of North 15th Street in Harrisburg.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy of Dustin Weese*

Jillian Pikora

09/18/2024 8:00 p.m.

Three apartments within the rowhome burned in the 200 block of North 15th Street beginning around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, according to the Dauphin County Department of Public Safety.

Crews battled the blaze even as the roof collapsed, fire officials explained and videos and photos showed.

A woman living in the home was found dead on the second floor, Harrisburg Bureau of Fire chief Brian Enterline said. The woman's cause of death was smoke inhalation and thermal burns; the manner was ruled accidental, a spokesperson from the county told Daily Voice on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Her official identification "is still pending DNA testing," officials said.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

This was the second of two house fires the Harrisburg firefighters battled in just a few hours. A duplex in the 2000 block of Swatara Street caught fire around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire and Pennsylvania State Police are investigating both fires.

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