Unattended wok starts blaze, damages home

By SCOTT PERRY
Collegian Staff Writer

A fire that began in the garage of a State College residence yesterday spread to the rest of the structure, destroying the kitchen and damaging parts of the roof and living areas.

The fire started at 1:52 p.m. at 119 W. Aaron Drive. The Alpha Fire Company and the Boalsburg Fire Company responded to the alarm about five minutes later, said Alpha Assistant Fire Chief Shawn Kauffman.

When firefighters arrived, the fire had completely engulfed the garage and was moving to the remainder of the building, Kauffman said.

The blaze was evidently caused when a wall of the garage caught fire because someone in the house left food in a wok unattended, Kauffman said.

One person was treated for minor burn injuries by ambulance personnel at the scene, he said, adding that he did not know the name of the person injured. There were no other injuries.

The home was occupied by Yuzhang Cao and his wife Ling Ling Liu, Kauffman said.

Although the garage was completely destroyed, the basement, the bedrooms and some parts of the living area were undamaged, Kauffman said.

The home of Glenn E. McCoy of 125 W. Aaron Drive was also damaged in the blaze. Because of the intensive heat the Cao's garage caused when it burned, the siding facing the fire of McCoy's home melted.

"(The McCoys) were very fortunate," Kauffman said.

He said if firefighters had arrived later, the McCoy's house would have caught fire too.

The fire caused power to be cut to the house and other houses on the street. West Penn Power employees repaired it in about half an hour after the fire was extinguished.

Some neighbors commented that Cao and Liu worked very hard on their home and put a great deal of time into it. Several neighbors offered Cao and Liu a place to stay.