Fire officials say children playing with matches sparked a Saturday morning blaze that heavily damaged a Monessen home, displacing the family that lives there.
No charges will be filed because of the young age of the children, according to Monessen Fire Department Station 1 Chief Chris Rhome. No one was injured, and firefighters kept flames from spreading to another home just three feet away, Rhome said.
Reported just after 10 a.m. at Ninth Street and Summit Avenue, the fire began in a second-story bedroom and spread to the attic, Rhome said. He said city police officer Chris Gray, who was the first to arrive, made sure the two adults and several children at the home were out of the brick building and that Red Cross and Salvation Army teams were summoned to assist them.
Smoke and flames were pouring from second-story windows when firefighting units arrived, Rhome said, noting, “Our crews made a very aggressive interior attack.”
Six other fire departments from Westmoreland and Washington counties assisted at the scene.
