By Tribune-Review

Published: Saturday, September 29, 2012, 3:34 p.m.
Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

westomoreland county

Latrobe

Fires strike 2 homes on same street

Fires broke out in two Latrobe homes on the same street slightly more than an hour apart Saturday.

At 10:54 a.m., a chimney fire ignited in the single-family home at 39 E. First Ave., according to Bob Heintzelman, Latrobe Fire Department assistant chief from Company 6, who was in charge at the scene.

At 12:08 p.m., a kitchen fire broke out at 32 E. First Ave., less than 200 feet away, he said.

No one was injured in either blaze, Heintzelman said.

“It's not too often we get two fires that close together,” he said. “Everybody did a great job. The engines were almost all in place” for the second fire.

The first fire started when a build up of creosote ignited in the chimney when the family lit their fireplace. The fire was contained to the chimney and there was minimal damage, he said.

The second fire, in the kitchen of half of a duplex, destroyed the kitchen and caused some smoke damage to the home's first floor, Heintzelman said. The fire did not spread to the other side of the duplex, but firefighters opened that home to clear some smoke out, he said.

The Red Cross was assisting the tenant whose kitchen burned. Both scenes were cleared by 2:30 p.m.

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