The blaze that damaged the historic George Washington Hotel last fall was a tragedy that brought out the best in people who donated clothing, toiletries and supplies to the three dozen older residents of the Cherry Tree Personal Care Home temporarily displaced by the fire.

Canonsburg nursing home owner Ralph McBride stepped up too, lending his facility, staff and equipment to Cherry Tree residents during 10 cold days in October when they were burned out of their home.

He was a hero to many, including local politicians, who say he deserves a medal.

But the state Department of Health wasn't impressed, and recently fined Mr. McBride $18,000 for lodging several personal care home residents alongside his own nursing home residents at Horizon Senior Care in Canonsburg.

The department contends Mr. McBride, 82, a retired contractor who spends most days at the nursing home, endangered the health of some of his residents by taking in the homeless .

But Mr. McBride and his supporters are fighting to reduce or eliminate the fine, saying common sense prevented him from leaving them out in the cold -- literally.

Mr. McBride, who has operated Horizon for the past 21 years along with his wife of 58 years, Giocanda, said he got a call on Sunday, Oct. 15, hours after a seven-alarm blaze broke out at the hotel on Main Street in Washington.

The 10-story hotel, itself just a year older than Mr. McBride, contains apartments, banquet and commercial facilities, and the Cherry Tree Personal Care Home. When an electrical fire started on the mezzanine level, it spread quickly, but staff and emergency responders were able to evacuate all of the personal care home residents in less that four minutes, according to Ron DeVerse, director of operations and the administrator of Cherry Tree.

The bad news was one police officer was injured in a fall from a seventh-floor window and two of the four floors occupied by the personal care home were seriously smoke-damaged. It was unusually cold outside, where firefighters bundled blankets and coats around residents who escaped with only the clothes on their backs. They were then transported to a local high school gymnasium until other arrangements could be made.

The home's required evacuation plan listed a nearby facility to which residents would be transferred in an emergency, but it had only four beds available that day, Mr. DeVerse said. Residents would have had to be separated and scattered throughout the area unless another solution could be found.

That's when a senior transport driver contacted Mr. McBride, who initially was asked to take in 23 residents, he said.

"I kept the kitchen open that night and told them to send the residents," Mr. McBride said.

Equipped with 118 beds, Horizon is in the process of downsizing and had only 70 residents at the time, leaving plenty of open beds for those in need that night, Mr. McBride said.

He recalled telling Mr. DeVerse to send along the Cherry Tree staff so residents would be more comfortable. He said although there were a "few missing shoes" and other personal items, most of the Cherry Tree residents got through the night well. Donated clothing had already begun to pour in, but no medical records were immediately available due to the fire.

Medication was ordered from St. Clair Hospital, and some of the Cherry Tree residents slept that night in rooms with Horizon patients until other rooms could be prepared. Mr. McBride said none of his residents were forced to share rooms, and those who agreed to share were happy for the companionship and change of pace. There were no objections from residents or families, he said.

Over the next few hours and days, the remaining homeless Cherry Tree residents came to stay at Horizon where the third floor was designated for their use. Nine Horizon residents who had been housed on the third floor were moved to the fourth floor of the facility, Mr. McBride said.

Unlike Cherry Tree, Horizon is a skilled and intermediate care nursing home, caring for residents with differing levels of long-term and short-term medical needs, Mr. McBride said. The four-story facility, the former Canonsburg Hospital, is partitioned according to the medical requirements of the residents, some of whom may be recovering from surgery or some who might be suffering from Alzheimer's.

Mr. McBride purchased the building from local developers after spending 60 years as a general contractor specializing in the construction of facilities for seniors and those with special needs.

The home was fined on one other occasion in March 2003 for $2,500, when the Department of Health, which oversees nursing homes, cited Horizon for failing to install padded side rails on the bed of a woman who was subsequently injured.

The morning after the fire, Mr. McBride said he notified the department of the situation.

"They told me to get rid of them," Mr. McBride said. He said he was told the residents couldn't mix.

Mr. McBride said his staff assessed the Cherry Tree residents for health problems, and once some of the medical records were salvaged from the fire, were able to determine that the residents had current inoculations. Mr. McBride said he never would have endangered his residents.

"I said, 'Are you crazy?' As far as we were concerned, it worked very well," he said. "I told them I wasn't throwing them out."

Department of Health spokesman Richard McGarvey said Horizon was fined because Mr. McBride failed to evaluate how other patients would affect his residents, and because he placed his residents at risk by exposing them to the outsiders.

"They shouldn't put others at risk by extending the emergency into the nursing home," he said.

The Horizon residents are more susceptible to disease, Mr. McGarvey said, and the proper course of action would have been for Cherry Tree to follow its evacuation policies.

On Nov. 29, the Department of Health's Division of Nursing Care Facilities issued an order against Horizon for displacing the nine third-floor residents for 10 days. The $18,000 fine represents a $200 a day fine for each of the nine residents over a 10-day period.

Mr. McBride appealed the order to the department's health policy board -- a panel of health care experts -- which will make a final determination. A hearing is expected soon.

Area politicians tried to head off the fine by discussing the matter with Gov. Ed Rendell when he made a visit to the George Washington Hotel before the election last fall.

"He was well aware of the issue and was willing to step in," said state Rep. Timothy Solobay, D-Canonsburg, who met with the governor, along with state Sen. J. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville.

Mr. Solobay, along with county and Washington city officials, had been to Horizon several times in October to visit the Cherry Tree residents, and pledged his assistance if necessary.

Mr. Solobay said the issue should be addressed by the Legislature or Department of Health with more comprehensive evacuation guidelines, but Mr. McBride should not have been punished for his "act of good faith."

"Don't throw the baby out with the bath water," he said. "Let's not kick people in the teeth here. It's common sense versus bureaucracy."

The discussion didn't forestall the citation or fine, but Mr. Solobay and Mr. Stout since have sent letters to Mr. Rendell's office, asking for his assistance with the fine, hoping it can be lowered or waived.

"[Mr. McBride] did not compromise the medical care of those at Horizon. It was an extraordinary situation," said Mr. Stout's district administrator Sharon Russell. "We're hoping it can be resolved."

"He probably deserves a medal, not a fine," Mr. Solobay said.

Mr. McBride never sought or received reimbursement for the food, medical or other expenses he incurred while housing the Cherry Tree residents, and said the money means nothing to him.

"We were so thankful to Mr. McBride," Mr. DeVerse said.

A restoration crew worked around the clock to repair the damaged floors within 10 days, Mr. DeVerse said. Still, it wasn't fast enough to prevent a fine for Horizon, he said.

"I can't believe with all of people who have written letters, that this hasn't been resolved," he said. "It's truly a shame. These folks were so well taken care of, it would have been havoc without Mr. McBride."

The threat of a fine, Mr. McBride said, would not have changed his mind.

"God forbid, if it happened again, I'd do it again," he said.