Police searching for man in Stowe arson that injured 4 firefighters

Police are searching for a man suspected of setting a fire in Stowe earlier this month that injured four firefighters in a collapse, including one who suffered multiple broken vertebrae.

Andre Quinones, 28, is charged with nine counts of arson in relation to the Aug. 12 fire that destroyed a duplex, according to Allegheny County Police.

One woman was inside the home when the fire started, according to a criminal complaint, and the other half of the duplex was abandoned. The woman told police she was packing up some things, as she and her three children had been staying with her father, when she heard a loud bang and glass shattering.

Downstairs, she found a large fire on the front porch that police said spread inside when she opened the door. The woman had to escape through a back door.

Firefighters were battling the blaze when a porch collapsed on them. Four were injured, including one who suffered a leg injury and another who sustained five broken vertebrae. All four had minor burns, according to the complaint.

Stowe Fire Chief Matt Chapman described to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV the tense moments surrounding the collapse.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking seeing your guys up there and that roof coming down,” he told the TV station at the time. “It was pretty crazy.”

His son was among those injured, he told the station, noting that he has “a pretty good recovery” ahead of him.

Investigators determined the fire started on the porch, and they found nothing that could have caused an accidental blaze, authorities said.

The woman told investigators her fiancée had been in a fight earlier that day with Quinones at Pittsburgh International Airport – a fight for which her fiancée had been arrested, according to the complaint. Police spoke to the man in jail, who identified Quinones as the man with whom he had a fight.

Body-worn camera footage from the Allegheny County Police officers who responded to the airport fight allegedly showed Quinones threatening the man, lunching at him and screaming, “You know I’m going to see you in the Rocks,” according to the complaint.

The man said Quinones had previously threatened his fiancé, the woman who was home at the time of the fire, and threatened to “whip (his) (expletive)” as well, police wrote.

Detectives used data from license plate readers to determine a white Kia was in the area around the time of the fire, and the license plate on the Kia traced back to Quinones, according to the complaint. Witnesses also reported seeing a white Kia in the area around the time of the fire.

In addition to the arson charges, Quinones also faces misdemeanor counts of simple assault and disorderly conduct for the alleged altercation at the airport.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Quinones is asked to contact the county police tip line at 1-833-255-8477.