`northern Exposure' Is 
Tv As It Ought To Be 
There's No Gunplay, No Arrests, No Explosions, No Karate, No Swimsuits, No 
Negligees, No Casual Sex.

19 Public Officials Take Oath Of Office 
Festive Mood Prevails At Courthouse As 
Swearing-in Ceremonies 
Take The Spotlight

By JERRY LYNOTT; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Wednesday, January 05, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 4A QUICK WORDS: NO INJURIES REPORTED IN
BLAZE 





LEHMAN TWP. -- Flames won the battle of fire and ice as a blaze destroyed a
Back Mountain house during Tuesday morning's snowstorm. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just a shell remained of Barry Coombs' house on Sutton Lane in Lehman
Township. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Neither Coombs nor other family members were home at the time. Coombs, an
over-the-road truck driver, was on his way to California, according to his
brother Barry of Shavertown. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Barry Coombs said his brother was notified of the fire. The cause is under
investigation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Approximately 15 firefighters from Lehman and Jackson townships and Harveys
Lake responded to the alarm that came in at about 10:20 a.m. The blaze was
tapped out at about 1 p.m. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lehman Township firefighter Helen Hagenbaugh said two neighbors called the
emergency 911 system "at almost exactly the same time." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dolores Spencer said she twice unsuccessfully tried 911. The first time she
said she did not get an answer. The second time she connected with an operator
who could not place the call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Spencer said she then tried the Lehman Township fire hall and got a busy
signal. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She eventually ran over to the house and met another neighbor who lived in
a trailer behind Coombs' house. Spencer said at that time she could hear the
siren summoning volunteers to the fire hall. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bill Alaimo, director of the Back Mountain Communications Center, said
someone did call 911 to report the fire. He speculated that Spencer
incorrectly dialed 0 before 911. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The emergency system is checked and tested daily, and it was working
properly Tuesday morning, Alaimo said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The weather did not hamper firefighters, Hagenbaugh said. There were no
injuries nor equipment problems. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It was a fully involved structure fire," she said. "That's the way it came
in. Fortunately, the fire was only about 1 miles from the township building.
"When the men heard the dispatch they got into two pieces of equipment" to
plow the road. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The first engine beat the plows by two minutes, said Hagenbaugh. But the
plows did clear space for the ambulance and tanker truck. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The township gets an A-plus for getting out," Hagenbaugh said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Spencer said her husband, Dave, saw a member of the Coombs' family drive
away from the house minutes before the fire. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dolores Spencer said she looked out the window shortly after that and
noticed flames in a first-floor corner of the house where the electrical power
enters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/RICHARD SABATURA &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Fire gutted the home of the Barry Coombs family Tuesday morning. The cause
of the blaze on Sutton Lane in Lehman Township is under investigation. No one
was injured.

No Injuries Reported In Blaze That Gutted Lehman Twp. Home No Members Of Coombs Family Were At Home When Fire Erupted During Tuesday's Snowstorm