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

HARRISBURG Pa AP Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro reopened the governor s official residence to the inhabitants Tuesday for an Easter egg hunt barely a week after an alleged arsonist s fire tore through one of its wings and revealed he will begin sleeping there again soon I m not going to live in fear Shapiro recounted 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 s that has been home to eight governors and their families Shapiro explained 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 assurance 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 group Shapiro 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 possible White House contender in Cody Balmer is accused of scaling the nearly -foot iron defense gate spanning 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 executives 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 to determine whether the circumstance 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 Officials say Balmer expressed hatred for Shapiro and say they are examining whether religious or political bias could explain why Police affidavits say Balmer was demanded what he might have done had he encountered Shapiro while in the residence and that he mentioned he would have hit the governor with a sledgehammer State police announced Friday they hired a former state police commissioner Jeffrey Miller to conduct a assurance review