Chimney fire causes $45,000 in damage at New Kensington home

No one was injured when a chimney at a New Kensington home caught fire early Sunday morning, but the blaze caused an estimated $45,000 worth of damages, fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said.

The fire was reported just before 1 a.m. at 1931 Meade Ave. All the occupants were able to get out.

They have insurance and are still able to live in the house, according to Saliba.

The cause of the fire was the metal flue inside the chimney that got too hot and set the chimney’s wood frame on fire, the chief said.

“That’s what really caught on fire, that wood,” Saliba said. “The fire just spread straight up through the chimney and it went and hit the rafter, hit the roof, it started burning in toward the house.

“We had to cut the roofing material away, and then, inside the house, we had to pull the ceiling away and actually make a few holes inside the chimney and get our lines up in through there to extinguish the fire.”

About 35 firefighters from the city’s five stations, as well Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3, responded to the scene, the chief said.

They had to use roof ladders to get to the fire from the inside of the house because it has cathedral ceilings that are at least 14 feet high.

“There was an extensive amount of work being done interior wise and also exterior wise,” Saliba Jr. said. “We actually had to take our roof ladders inside the house as well as work off of the aerial ladder on the outside of the house. That ceiling was pretty high.”

The chief said there was a “considerable amount” of water damage to the inside of the house. The chimney also will need to be rebuilt.

After the fire was out, firefighters used salvage covers to cover up the cuts they made around the chimney to get to the fire, so rain wouldn’t be able to get into the house, the chief said.

“They had enough damage. We didn’t want to do anymore,” he said.

Staff writer Rich Cholodofsky contributed. Madasyn Lee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Madasyn at mczebiniak@tribweb.com, 724-226-4702 or via Twitter at @MLeeTrib.