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Police are looking for four teenagers suspected of setting a fire that caused an estimated $50,000 in damage in Hanover on Sunday morning, Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Patrick McKenna said.
The fire behind 31 and 33 W. Hanover St. that firefighters fought for about an hour and a half destroyed a shed, barn and two vehicles. McKenna ruled Monday morning that the fire was an arson.
"It is believed that a pile of trash was ignited next to the garage," McKenna said.
Because the investigation is ongoing, McKenna could not say more on how officials had determined the fire was arson.
Penn Township Volunteer Emergency Services and the Hanover Fire Department were dispatched to West Hanover Street at 6:21 a.m. where they found the garage, shed and both vehicles already on fire, said Tony Clousher, a firefighter with Hanover.
The garage and shed were located behind the two-family residence. The garage and a Kia Rio parked inside belonged to Peggy Sensaeaugh, 56, of 33 W. Hanover St.
The shed located next to the garage and a Ford Escape parked by the shed belonged to John and Melissa Atkins, ages 46 and 49, of 31 W. Hanover St., Clousher said.
The shed collapsed while the skeletal frame of the garage was all that remained around the charred Kia.
Two neighboring garages sustained minor heat damage.
A neighbor called in the fire and when firefighters arrived both families that lived in the building were still asleep,
No one was injured in the fire.
Witnesses saw four teenagers in the area before the fire began, McKenna said.
The Hanover Police Department is still investigating.
Police Chief Randy Whitson did not respond to requests for comment.
Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services, Abbottstown Fire Co. and Pleasant Hill Volunteer Fire Co. assisted on the call.
Contact Jamie McCune at jmccune@eveningsun.com.
