Three-alarm fire rips through 4 homes on South Queen Street
ELIZABETH EVANS -- The York Dispatch
April 2, 2007 0512 PM EDT

York City Deputy Fire Chief Steven Buffington gently cradled the
small, trembling dog he rescued from a burning home as an ambulance
worker held an oxygen mask over the dog s muzzle.

Buffington rescued "Papi," who' d been trapped in a basement during a
three-alarm fire that ripped through four row homes this afternoon in
the 400 block of South Queen Street.

Firefighters started looking for Papi after his owners, Maria Kelly
and Ervin Velazquez of 436 S. Queen, told fire crews the dog was still
in the basement.

"We attempted to make entry in the front of the house," Buffington
said, but could not. Instead, they got in through the back. "The dog
was inside treading water."

Buffington jumped into the water-filled basement, scooped up Papi and
rushed him to a waiting ambulance crew.

After the dog received oxygen, Buffington handed him to Velazquez,
saying, "Good luck."

Velazquez and Kelly quickly walked to nearby Community Animal Hospital
at 400 S. Pine St. A spokeswoman at the animal hospital later said
Papi was given oxygen therapy and a bath, and seemed to be doing OK.

Also doing fine is city firefighter Timothy Bair, who suffered a burn
on his arm and was taken to York Hospital, Buffington said. No other
firefighters were injured.

After being treated, Bair returned to the scene.

"He suited back up and is working," Buffington said.

Bair and other firefighters tried to get into the burning homes to
battle the blaze, but were forced out when "conditions became
intolerable," the deputy chief said. At that point, crews poured water
on the flames from outside the homes.

"These guys took a beating in there," Buffington said. "That's a
testament to our guys."

At 1300, York City fire crews responded to the fire at 430 S. Queen
St., which quickly spread to the 3 adjacent homes at 432, 434 and 436
S. Queen St. Three of the homes are occupied, Buffington said, but 430
is believed to be vacant.

"I think all 4 of them are a total loss," Buffington said.

Flames engulfed 430 S. Queen St., a vacant home where the blaze is
believed to have started, and thick smoke billowed out of it.
Firefighters on the aerial lifts of tanker trucks poured water into
the home, but could not save the structure.

The roof caved in, and the side wall facing Harding Court swayed back
and forth before eventually collapsing.

Roommates Rufus Murray, 75, and Tina Poff, 42, were in their 432 S.
Queen St. home when Poff -- who was watching television on the 1st
floor -- heard what sounded like knocking coming from 430, she said.

When Poff looked out her door, she saw firefighters and yelled up to
Murray, who was on the 2nd floor. Poff said she had time to grabbed
their identification, but was unable to salvage anything else.

"We made it out just in time," Murray said.

They both lost everything in the blaze, they said, but both expressed
relief that they made it out safely.

"A lot of memories" are gone, Poff said, fighting back tears.

"We don't have nothing," Murray said.

The roommates sat inside Doris' Place, the restaurant across the
street from their home, while fire crews did their work.

Poff said she was overwhelmed by how folks from the restaurant reached
out, invited them inside and allowed them to make phone calls.

York City was assisted by firefighters from West York, North York,
Spring Garden Township and Manchester Borough. White Rose Ambulance
stood by attending to exhausted firefighters.

By 1430, the sense of urgency among firefighters lessened and the fire
appeared to be contained. Dozens of neighbors and onlookers gathered
in the yard at Small Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church to watch as
firefighters fought the blaze.

Kelly, 32, said Velazquez and her brother-in-law were outside fixing a
car when they realized 430 S. Queen St. was on fire. They called 911.

Kelly then left her home to pick up their 4-year-old daughter, Destiny
Kelly. When she returned, she was stunned with how quickly the fire
had spread.

"It was so small when I left," she said, adding she never imagined it
would spread to her home, which is why she hadn't taken Papi outside.

Kelly said that when Destiny saw the fire, she cried, "My toys! My
toys!"

Trooper Patrick McKenna Jr., a state police fire marshal, was on scene
yesterday trying to determine what caused the blaze, Buffington said.

Fire crews cleared the scene at 1655.