Wohlsen was appointed interim mayor in 1979 after Mayor Richard M. Scott resigned to serve as adjutant general of Pennsylvania . Wohlsen was a Republican , and was one of several candidates , including Scott , that the state Republican Party had compelled to join the political arena from the private world during the early 1970s and 1980s . Wohlsen 's first challenge as mayor was dealing with a major snowstorm that struck the city during his first day in office . Only a few weeks into his mayoral term , the 100-ton Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station experienced a partial meltdown . Despite his experience in the construction business , Wohlsen acknowledged he did not know enough about nuclear power to appreciate the seriousness of the accident . Nobody from Governor Dick Thornburgh 's office attempted to communicate with Wohlsen or any Lancaster officials the day of the meltdown . Wohlsen considered and started to prepare the evacuation the city 's 57,000 residents as a result of the meltdown , but ultimately did not . Other city officials encouraged him to order elderly residents of high-rises to travel to their families ahead of a general evacuation , but Wohlsen refused , concerned it would incite panic . Wohlsen himself declined to leave the city , claiming , " I felt it was my responsibility to stay here and see what happened . To be the last one to leave the ship . " Wohlsen was especially concerned that radioactive water would get into the Lancaster water supply . As a precaution , he had the Susquehanna River intake shut down , and relied on water from the Conestoga River . Wohlsen set up a phone line to field questions from the public . Upon realizing the Lancaster City Hall had no radio with which to monitor the news about Three Mile Island , Wohlsen went home and picked up a miniature reproduction of a horse-drawn fire engine , which included a built-in , battery-powered radio . Although Wohlsen himself described it as a " little , cheap radio " , it served as the primary source to city officials for news about the accident for the next several months . During the meltdown , Thornburgh considered evacuating Harrisburg and Elizabethtown residents to Lancaster , where they would stay in dormitories at Franklin & Marshall and Millersville State colleges . Wohlsen argued against this proposal , worried it would create " utter chaos " for his city and residents
partial meltdown
Three Mile Island accident
Albert Wohlsen