Pennsylvania governor reopens fire-damaged official residence to public as cleanup goes on

Audio By Carbonatix

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reopened the governor's official residence to the public Tuesday for an Easter egg hunt barely a week after an alleged arsonist's fire tore through one of its wings and said he will begin sleeping there again soon.

“I'm not going to live in fear,” Shapiro told reporters after the annual Easter egg hunt held for children on the west lawn of the residence along the Susquehanna River in the state capital of Harrisburg.

Large waste disposal bins sat on the east side of the residence while workers cleared out the fire-damaged rooms, including tearing out floors, walls and ceilings. Plywood covered broken windows on the three-story brick Georgian-style residence built in the 1960s that has been home to eight governors and their families.

Shapiro said the smell of smoke is gone from the living quarters and he hoped to see the fire-damaged rooms restored by mid-summer, but declined to describe what sort of security improvements have been made or will be made.

The fire broke out in the middle of the night as Shapiro, his wife, their children, extended family members and dogs slept upstairs, just hours after having celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover with members of Harrisburg's Jewish community.

Shapiro, 51, is the first-term governor of the nation’s fifth-most populous state, a presidential battleground that has helped make him a rising star in the Democratic Party and viewed as a potential White House contender in 2028.

Cody Balmer, 38, is accused of scaling the nearly 7-foot iron security gate, crossing the grounds and smashing windows with a hammer, igniting two glass bottles filled with gasoline and crawling inside before slipping off into the night minutes later. The rooms he allegedly lit ablaze were where Shapiro’s family had held the Passover Seder just hours earlier.

The fire caused millions of dollars of damage, according to fire officials, but no injuries. State troopers roused Shapiro and his family and evacuated them to escape the fire.

Balmer has been jailed since turning himself in, on charges that include attempted homicide, arson, assault and burglary. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 28 to determine whether the case will go to trial. Balmer has not entered a plea.

Balmer's mother and brother say he suffers from mental illness, something that Balmer denied in court. Authorities say Balmer expressed hatred for Shapiro and say they are investigating whether religious or political bias could explain why.

Police affidavits say Balmer was asked what he might have done had he encountered Shapiro while in the residence — and that he said he would have hit the governor with a sledgehammer.

State police said Friday they hired a former state police commissioner, Jeffrey Miller, to conduct a security review.