Tarentum home damaged in fire deemed uninhabitable, council considers demolition

A Tarentum home damaged by fire in mid-September has been deemed unsafe and could be demolished, along with two neighboring properties.

Fire crews battled a blaze at 917 Porter St. on Sept. 16. No one was injured but two dogs died.

The cause of the fire was accidental, said Kasey Reigner, public information officer for the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services.

It started when “dogs activated a stovetop burner,” Reigner said.

The wood-frame home sits in a row of three now-abandoned properties that has borough officials considering a one-stop demolition.

A neighboring home at 915 Porter St. is already condemned. The house at 913 Porter is abandoned, officials said.

“The first step is to put out an advertisement to ensure if anyone has a claim to the house, that they have a chance to come forward to state their case if they want to rehab it,” Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said.

“If we can, it would be smart to try to do all three at once.”

Tarentum officials have been aggressive in demolition of blighted and abandoned properties, having torn down 68 since 2019.

It has allowed many borough residents to use the county’s vacant property program to expand their yard or build a garage, Boddorf said.

Councilman Ray Kerr appeared to be in favor of razing all three properties, if possible, to cause the least amount of hassle for the many people who use that street, he said.

Borough code enforcement officer Anthony Bruni said a fourth house nearby was previously torn down.

“We demolished another one in that row which could potentially make it attractive for someone to develop there,” he said.

The borough would have to pay for the demolition, but council could apply for a county grant to help with the costs, Boddorf said.

“At a minimum, we should do the one that had the fire,” Boddorf said. “It is unsafe.”

A date for the public hearing has not been set.