Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family share new details about the arson attack at a luncheon thanking first responders

HARRISBURG — Yelling. Banging. Smoke.

Those were the first few moments that made Gov. Josh Shapiro hop out of bed and begin evacuating his family from the Pennsylvania governor’s residence on Sunday, after a man broke into the Harrisburg mansion and set three fires in the predawn hours, causing an estimated millions of dollars’ worth of damage.

Shapiro shared new details about the harrowing experience on Thursday at a luncheon for the Harrisburg firefighters who quickly responded to the blaze and were able to knock down the fire in about 30 minutes, preventing it from spreading to the rest of the residence.

Shapiro, his wife Lori, and his four children served lunch alongside some of Shapiro’s extended family and celebrity chef Robert Irvine at the Harrisburg Fire Company to thank the firefighters for keeping them safe. Shapiro also used the moment as an opportunity to advocate for more funding for Pennsylvania’s firefighters. (He requested an additional $30 million for competitive grants for fire departments in his $51.5 billion budget proposal earlier this year.)

“On behalf of my entire family, whose lives were saved because of your bravery, we just want you to know how grateful we are to you,” Shapiro said in brief remarks addressing the firefighters. “We hope that God continues to shine his light around you, each and every one of you, as you go out to keep us safe.”

Shapiro said he organized the luncheon after his kids said they wanted to do something to say “thank you” to the first responders. Irvine, who runs a foundation supporting veterans and served a Veterans Day meal with Shapiro last year, had texted the governor following the attack, asking how he could help — leading to the lunch in the Harrisburg firehouse bay.

“Call it what you want,” Irvine said about the arson attack, which occurred hours after Shapiro hosted his family in the residence to celebrate the first night of Passover. “It’s all terrorism to me.”

Authorities have yet to announce a motive in the attack, and Shapiro himself has been careful not to speculate.

Shapiro on Thursday described, in detail, being woken up by state police that night, rushing to the nearby bedrooms of his children, and shuffling out a back stairwell as the fire burned in a separate wing of the building. The family stood outside in their pajamas in the chilly, misty 2 a.m. air as firefighters knocked down the flames. The full picture of how the fire started — and that this was an attack allegedly carried out by a 38-year-old Harrisburg man who cited Shapiro’s perceived views of the Israel-Hamas war in a subsequent 911 call — would become clearer in the coming hours.

Shapiro’s brother Adam, his sister Rebecca Steinberg, their spouses, and their children were among the governor’s family staying at the residence the night of the fire. On Thursday, they too helped serve the firefighters the chef-made meal of braised ribs, shrimp, and grits.

Steinberg, who lives in Los Angeles and whose family experienced the Palisades fires in California earlier this year, said evacuating the governor’s residence in Harrisburg was calm in the midst of a chaotic scene.

“It was all very fast,” she said. “I give the firefighters, the police, all of the first responders a ton of credit. They were incredibly calm, which helped us stay incredibly calm.”

The Shapiros and their extended family have been spending a lot of time together since the fire, the governor’s siblings said, as they each individually process the arson that unfolded shortly after the family gathered for Passover.

“In the moment, it was just about safety, getting everybody out, looking around, and ensuring that all of us were safe,” Adam Shapiro said. “These last few days, the gravity of it has sort of hit more.”

“Our brother said it the right way. The prayers and everything we received near and very, very far have meant a lot, and it’s certainly helped us through these moments,” he added.

John Wardle, a chaplain with the all-volunteer Penn Township Fire Company, gave Shapiro a letter signed by every member of the small fire department. The Penn Township firefighters also gave $500 to the Shapiro children to put toward doing an activity together as a family. Wardle delivered the check to Shapiro, along with the personal letter, at the firehouse luncheon on Thursday.

Wardle, who helped clean up the governor’s mansion for a week in 1972 after it was flooded by Hurricane Agnes, said his fire company, located in Cumberland County, wanted to do something for Pennsylvania’s First Family.

“Our fire company feels for them. That was a terrible tragedy that could have been so much worse,” Wardle said.

A particular line in the letter struck a chord with the governor and his wife.

Its significance unbeknownst to him, Wardle’s letter included the Bible verse from the “Book of Numbers” that the Shapiros pray over their kids in Hebrew each night:

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

As her husband read the verse aloud Thursday, tears quietly formed in Lori Shapiro’s eyes.

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