New photos of the inside of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence revealed the full scale of the destruction from the arson attack that torched the historic governor’s mansion.
The fire started around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, while Shapiro’s family was sleeping. Everyone was safely evacuated, but the fire raged on, scorching the wallpaper and floors and even melting tables inside the state-owned building, before it was put out.
Photos taken by Shapiro’s security team detail the full extent of the fire. While some things like the light fixtures and cutlery used the night before during the first Seder of Passover held at the mansion were still intact, some rooms were left looking like a war zone after the blaze.
A dining room where part of Saturday evening’s Seder celebration took place was miraculously left untouched beyond a few overturned chairs, but another room was covered in black soot and burned furniture.
The Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence was opened in 1968 following a quarter-century hiatus caused by World War II that pushed construction of the project to the wayside, according to the Pennsylvania government website. Governor Raymond Shafer and his wife were the first to move into the mansion.
Shapiro’s emergency evacuation marked the second in the residence’s history.
In 1972, the home flooded during Hurricane Agnes and took on about five feet of water. It took two years for the mansion to be restored.
It’s unclear how long it may take to repair the home this time around — or what exactly can be salvaged from the fire.
Cody Balmer, the 38-year-old suspect arrested for the attack, allegedly hopped a fence and lobbed a homemade device at the home to start the fire. He then jumped back over the fence and fled the scene, managing to evade authorities until Sunday afternoon.
Balmer is expected to face charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson, and aggravated assault against an enumerated person, authorities said.
Authorities believe that the attack was “targeted” and have not released any additional information about a motive. Shapiro, who is Jewish, suggested that the attack may have been motivated by antisemitism, but investigators have not been able to confirm or deny his theory.
“If he was trying to terrorize our family, our friends, the Jewish community, who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night, hear me on this: we celebrated our faith last night, proudly and in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover,” Shapiro said at a press conference Sunday afternoon.
