Overnight fire damages New Kensington home

A fire broke out in a New Kensington home early Saturday morning.

No one was home when the fire started after midnight at a house on Freeport Street, said homeowner Phillipene Orr.

“The fire appears to have started on the stove top,” New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said, explaining that it seemed something had been left on the stove unattended.

The majority of damage, he said, was contained to the kitchen, though the home also suffered damage from a “considerable amount of smoke.” Firefighters had to pull down some portions of ceilings and walls to knock out the blaze, Saliba said.

“My kitchen is totally burnt,” Orr said.

Saliba said firefighters were on the scene for about an hour. Crews from Arnold and Lower Burrell assisted the New Kensington firefighters, he said.

“It was fast action by the volunteer firemen,” he said. “They quickly put the fire out.”

Orr, who owns nearby Salon Po, said clients and neighbors offered their help Monday. One friend, Joy Clark, launched a Go Fund Me page to raise money for Orr.

“Po, as she is known, is a very giving person,” Clark wrote on the page.