Today the bulldozers have arrived at 400 S. Leopard Road in Berwyn, Chester County and Easttown Township. We have been living this since the first fire in 2024. Charged with arson in one fire here is still Kathryn Calmus Frankel. She was charged in the new year with a dangerous fire in York County, PA. She was also charged with some sort of fire in Delaware County (Radnor Township.) I am uncertain as to which prison she is located in – I presume York County which is county of latest arson.
Frankel has not been tried in any of these cases as of yet, although I did notice this on the Delaware County, PA docket:
Is there a chance she pleads on all of these cases? Who knows. The media down here has not followed up and we haven’t heard anything out of the various District Attorneys’ offices about that have we?
I am so sad that this quirky old house is becoming something we will maybe remember for a while and then forget as ashes to ashes dust to dust…and we know a McMansion shall replace part of our Chester County history, but two brutal fires have killed this piece of history.
This is yet another reason why this country needs better mental health services.
Here is one more photo and then to follow current dockets from 3 counties and a couple of prior posts.
Bye house. You were once beautiful, quirky, and loved even by strangers driving by.
Police say Kathryn Frankel is accused of starting a fire using a heat gun in a home on Ogontz Street. They also say she has a previous arson arrest out of Chester County from 2024, also with a heat gun.
Details of the arson
Police said Frankel was living in the basement of the home on Ogontz Street when the fire started just after midnight on Jan. 1.
The fire department was dispatched for a reported basement fire, and upon arrival, they saw people trapped inside. Several residents had to be rescued, with some jumping from the second floor, and one person was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
A firefighter was also hurt.
According to charging documents, witnesses told officers Frankel was acting suspiciously before the fire and tried to stop others from going into the basement.
Police say they found a pile of burning clothes and blankets on the floor, as well as seven burned aerosol cans and a can of lighter fluid.
Frankel admitted to being in the basement and using a heat gun in the area shortly before the fire started, according to the charging documents. Kathryn Frankel is charged with arson and recklessly endangering another person.
Look I am sorry she is so mentally ill. But she is not safe out on the street. Someone is going to die. Once again, she could have died, and this time others got hurt.
She needs to NOT be out on the street. This is not the first fire. She is not safe, she may never be safe with this hobby of hers, correct?
Below are the dockets. Imagine if the wheels of justice had moved a little faster? Maybe those people in York wouldn’t have been displaced. I hate to say lock anyone up, but she is a danger to herself and others. She went from high style on the Main Line to a basement apartment in York County, PA.
