Fire destroys multi-unit Uniontown house

A fire Monday destroyed a turn-of-the-20th century Uniontown house converted into apartments, leaving several residents homeless, a Uniontown fire official said.

No one was injured in the fire that destroyed the wood-framed, three-story house at 300 Main St., said Uniontown Fire Department Lt. Scott Conn.

Residents from two of the four apartments were home at the time and safely fled the building, Conn said. The owner of the building, whose identity was not known, was at the house at the time of the fire, which was reported at noon, Conn said.

The cause and the origin of the fire remains under investigation, Conn said.

It took firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under control and still were at the scene at 3:40 p.m., Conn said. Firefighters faced challenges from the construction of the old buildings, which had voids in the walls from the foundation to the attic, Conn said.

Once the fire gets inside the hidden spaces, “it takes off to the races,” Conn said.

Firefighters initially were fighting the fire from inside but were pulled out to fight the blaze in a defensive mode when the fire spread through the structure, Conn said. Once they were able to get the fire under control with a heavy stream of water, firefighters were able to resume fighting the fire in an “offensive mode,” Conn said.

The American Red Cross is providing disaster relief to the residents, Conn said.

Uniontown firefighters were assisted by units from Fairchance, Adah, Hopwood, South Union Township and West Leisenring, Conn said.