Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro provided new details Thursday about the arson fire early Sunday that prompted his family’s evacuation from the governor’s official residence in Harrisburg.
While speaking to reporters Thursday after his family served a catered lunch to Harrisburg firefighters in thanks for their role in responding to the blaze, Shapiro recounted how his wife, four kids, and two dogs were awakened and guided to safety by Pennsylvania State Police troopers.
“We concluded our Seder maybe around 10ish or so at night,” and guests, family and others were in private areas on the first floor, he said.
“Everybody was just enjoying one another and spending time celebrating not just the holiday but each other and enjoying each other’s company,” he said. Around midnight, they went upstairs and “spent an hour yelling at the kids to go to bed and they didn’t listen.”
“Said goodnight to the kids, got the dogs situated, and I’d say probably fell asleep around 1 o’clock in the morning,” Shapiro said.
“Less than an hour later, I heard yelling in the hallway, which was not like our kids’ voices. It was one of the state troopers running down the hallway, and he banged on the door. I don’t know how he did it, but it wasn’t a knock. It was more of a bang,” he said.
Shapiro said he and his wife, Lori, were told there was a fire and they had to evacuate immediately.
“I would say within just a few seconds we ran to each of the doors in the hallway, to open them up and get the kids up, get the dogs up and usher everybody down a back stairwell,” he said. “And we followed the troopers out to the driveway area, and we were asked multiple times if everyone was present and accounted for. They were. Troopers and Capitol Police kept us safe.” Firefighters converged on the property.
Shapiro said first responders repeatedly made sure no one was missing.
“I remember it being a cold and kind of misty night. We were all a little chilly. Everybody was in their pajamas. And we just kind of huddled up and just tried to keep the kids calm and keep everybody calm,” he said. They did not realize from where they were just how much damage had been done to the other side of the house.
Emergency responders kept arriving.
“We were able to gather a few items up from the house,” he said. “And then we were on our way to a safe location for all of us, and we got the kids to sleep. Got them settled.”
The next morning Shapiro returned to the fire scene.
Shapiro and his wife were again at the residence on Thursday and examined the damage to the private areas where his family lives and the public spaces where they welcome guests.
“To see those spots that are charred and burned out and glass broken around the areas that before were happy, special places for us is tough,” he said.
Cody Balmer, 38, has been charged in connection with the arson attack and a motive is still under investigation.
Balmer is believed to have encountered little resistance as he scaled a security fence, smashed windows with a hammer, ignited two Molotov cocktails, and crawled inside before slipping off into the night minutes later.
That suggests multiple security failures, according to a former FBI agent who wondered why burglar alarms, motion detectors and other devices did not thwart the intruder sooner.
“He never should have gotten over the fence. He never should have gotten across the yard and to the house. He never should have broken the window. He never should have gotten inside,” said retired FBI Special Agent J.J. Klaver, now a security consultant.
Balmer, an unemployed mechanic from Harrisburg, told police he felt hatred toward Shapiro, and referenced Palestinians in a 911 call that day, according to court documents. He remains in custody without bail while his lawyers seek a competency evaluation.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23.
Balmer may face ethnic intimidation charges, which are Pennsylvania’s version of hate crime charges, according the Dauphin County District Attorney.
