Editor’s Note: Article updated Nov. 13, 2020.
It’s now been 30 years since fire engulfed downtown Lebanon’s Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) campus, killing 20-year-old city firefighter Timothy Stine.
Strong wind made fighting the inferno an extraordinary challenge, with one firefighter telling the AP at the time: “We had fire coming from everywhere. The wind… hurt more than it helped us. Our hands were tied.”
Stine was advancing hose lines inside the building when he became separated and lost. He was found unconscious 30 minutes later and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead by asphyxiation and carbon monoxide poisoning. The burn lasted three days and undermined four historic buildings. Six other firefighters were hurt in the conflagration.
In 2010, the self-contained breathing apparatus worn by Stine was returned to his family in a ceremony involving Mayor Sherry Capello.
Stine is also listed on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Stine is buried at Ebenezer Greenwood Cemetery.
Here are some photos from the Historical Society of the aftermath.
