Teen Killed in Crash, House Fire Displaces Two Families in Johnstown

Carter R. Gallaher, a 17-year-old senior at Glendale High School, was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash on Beaver Valley Road early Saturday morning after a 2018 Nissan Rogue carrying him and three others lost control on a curve around 5 a.m. and slammed into a tree and an embankment.

Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees confirmed Gallaher was 17 years old and was pronounced dead at the scene. The vehicle was carrying three other passengers, ages 19, 18, and 15. According to state police, the driver failed to negotiate a left turn, causing the vehicle to travel off the roadway and crash into a tree. Gallaher was a passenger in the vehicle and was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Two other passengers were taken to the hospital, one by helicopter and another by ambulance, due to injuries from the crash. Beaver Valley Road was closed between Glendale Lake Road and Stoltz Road while authorities worked the scene.

Later that same day, fire crews responded to the 1000 block of Jacoby Street in Johnstown's Walnut Grove neighborhood, where flames had broken out inside a duplex. Officials say the flames broke out just after 3 p.m. inside the right side of a duplex. Fire crews say the call came in as a kitchen fire, but when they arrived on scene they found flames coming out of the windows in the front and back of the home.

Crews spent most of the afternoon battling the blaze, and a part of Bedford Street was closed in that area so fire crews could run a hydrant across the street. Multiple people were inside the house when flames broke out, including two animals, but everyone made it out safely, and no injuries were reported. The American Red Cross responded to assist the two displaced families. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The two incidents capped a difficult Saturday for Cambria County, with the crash coroner's call arriving before dawn and emergency crews still working the Walnut Grove fire into the evening hours.