Abandoned Mansion and Guest House Fire
Though it stood as an eerie landmark for decades, the historic Gammache
mansion along New Holland Pike in Manheim Township quickly vanished from the
earth,
burning to the ground in sensational fashion March 22.
With flames raging from the third floor of the 114-year-old home when fire
units arrived, crews were instructed to allow the structure — deemed unsafe
— to burn.
Firefighters stood back and watched as the grand old mansion crumbled to the
ground.
But the decision to let the building burn wasn't made in the heat of the
moment.
In fact, the determination not to allow firefighters to enter the building
was made long before crews ever got the fire call.
According to Manheim Township Municipal Fire Chief Rick Kane, the property
was on a fire department "Do Not Enter" list, indicating the structure was
unsafe to enter.
The designation takes into account how long a property has been vacant,
along with the age and integrity of the structure.
"In the case of the Gammache house, it's been vacant for at least five years
— boarded up, there's been no upkeep and you've had years of it exposed to
weather," Kane said Monday.
"There are too many unknowns as to what's going on in there. Firefighters have
been killed in vacant houses where holes have been cut in the floor, roofs have
been compromised and things like pipes or banisters have been taken.
"It comes down to risk versus benefit," Kane said. "We're not killing a
firefighter going into a three-story house that isn't structurally sound.
"At the end of the day, the historical significance, I'm certainly not saying I
don't care, but it doesn't matter. And I know that answer doesn't sit well with
some people."
Kane also addressed questions about whether anyone could have been inside the
home.
"It was vacant and boarded up," he said. "Anything's possible, yes, but there
was no indication anyone was inside."
John Hershey, who lives on Pleasure Road, which borders the western edge of the
property, has watched the property decline over the past decade.
"Within the
last year especially. it's greatly deteriorated," he said, adding that the
property has been vandalized multiple times.
Charter Homes, he said, erected "No Trespassing" signs and boarded up the
buildings.
"But anyone who wanted to get in could," Hershey said. "It's unfortunate this
landmark has just been allowed to be neglected. And now it's gone."
Charter Homes is
in the process of purchasing the 45-acre Gammache tract from Lancaster
Catholic High School and plans to build 54 single-family homes there.
Rebecca Fowler, spokeswoman for Charter Homes, said the mansion was set to be
demolished later this year.
A day after the fire, Charter Homes, at the request of Lancaster Catholic, tore
down what was left of the burned-out mansion and leveled the area, Fowler said.
A smaller building, the original house built in the 1730s, is the only structure
remaining on the site.
Fire officials said the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
Manheim Township manager Mike Rimer said the Gammache mansion was listed as a
Level Two historic property, which is "fairly significant," he said.
Still, Charter Homes likely would've been permitted to tear it down.
If a demolition request had been made, township commissioners would have been
notified and a letter sent to the Historic Preservation Trust, which would have
had 90 days to respond, Rimer said.
"They have that time to talk about how to preserve the property and come up with
some alternatives," he said. "After 90 days we issue the permit so it more or
less just delays the process."
On a personal note, Rimer said he noticed the Gammache property for the first
time while driving by the site about a week before it burned down.
"For whatever reason, I never saw it sitting back there," he said. "It looked
like it might be significant and I couldn't help but wonder what happened there,
what was the story. A week later it was gone.
"I kind of think of it as an orphaned historic building that needed some love.
But we lost it."
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