Demolition set for Jeannette home that has been scene of suspicious fires

A house on South Seventh Street in Jeannette that has been the scene of several suspicious fires will burn no more.

Plans are in the works to have it razed, said fire Chief Bill Frye.

City council has unanimously approved the emergency demolition of the vacant structure at 212 S. Seventh St.

“There’s been fires there as far back as 2012,” Frye said. “The building, just from being vacant for so long already, had structural issues existing.”

Investigators could not determine the cause of the most recent fire there on March 1, but that blaze brought more structural problems, Frye said. With the close proximity of neighboring homes, the blighted two-story brick structure could be a hazard to the entire block, Frye said.

A 2012 fire there was intentionally set, he said.

Jadell Minniefield Construction Services of Pittsburgh will perform the demolition. The cost will be about $7,000. The city will place a lien on the property in an effort to recoup the money spent for the work, Frye said.

The property is owned by Alex K. Protch, according to county records. The front door was boarded up and glass had been broken out of the windows.

Frye also hopes to get approval for a vacant North Third Street home to be demolished. That two-story structure was the scene of an April 2 blaze that was intentionally set. The matter has not come before council.

“That one has been the scene of two different fires in the last six years or so,” he said.

The property is owned by Emmanuel Tosado of Bronx, N.Y., according to county records.

Jeannette police are investigating.

Each year from 2013-15 across the country, fires were reported at nearly 24,000 vacant residential buildings, causing an estimated 75 deaths, 200 injuries and $785 million in property loss, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, which is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or FEMA.) Nearly all were caused by non-contained fires, with 10 percent spreading to adjacent properties, the agency reported.

An average of 550 arsons are reported each year at vacant, uninhabited properties, according to the Bomb Arson Tracking System (BATS) maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.