7 apartment tenants lose homes in Jeannette fire

Seven apartment tenants lost their homes Monday afternoon when a fire swept through two homes in Jeannette and damaged a third.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by a state police fire marshal and Jeannette police, a city fire official said.

No one was reported injured in the fire that destroyed the wood-frame houses at 321 and 325 Division St. and damaged a home at 319 Division St., Jeannette Fire Capt. Josh Rettger said. He was not certain if anyone was inside the buildings when the fire started.

Rettger said firefighters discovered the blaze at 321 Division St. after they had quickly extinguished a porch fire at an abandoned home at 509 LaVelle St., about a block from the Division Street homes. The fire at LaVelle Street was reported at 1:57 p.m. and the Division Street fire was reported at 2:04 p.m., a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor said.

“Both (Division Street homes) had heavy fire,” Rettger said.

Investigators believe that the fire started in the rear of the house at 321 Division St., Rettger said. The fire spread to the house at 325 Division St., which is only separated by a sidewalk from 321 Division St. The nearby adjacent house at 319 Division St. sustained damage to the siding and smoke and water damage, but may be salvageable, Rettger said.

A thorough investigation of the interior of the buildings could not be done because of the instability of the structures, Rettger said. Police were interviewing witnesses, he added.

Two individuals left homeless by the fire, brothers Jerry and Roger Shank of 325 Division St., watched from across the street as firefighters poured water from above the building’s collapsed roof onto the apartments where they had lived for about 20 years. Jerry was at work at Candy’s Corner Deli at 643 Division St., and Roger said he was working at the Sisters of Charity in Greensburg when they learned their home was on fire.

“All my papers are gone — Army records, family pictures,” said Jerry Shank, who was alerted to the fire by a customer.

By the time he walked the few blocks to his home, firefighters were inside the building, and there was no way for him to run upstairs to salvage anything, Jerry Shank said.

Roger Shank said their late mother, Jane Shank, who died in June 2021, had lived in the house for more than 40 years.

“It’s full of memories for all of us,” said Stacy Shank, Jane Shank’s granddaughter.

Zach Ritzer, 25, of New Stanton, an employee of property owner Tim Weinman of Hempfield, said he was remodeling the rear apartment at 321 Division St. when he left to go to his truck parked nearby. He said he saw fire trucks at the LaVelle Street house, then could smell smoke coming from the houses on Division Street.

The house at 321 Division St. contained an apartment in the rear, which was being remodeled, as well as two other apartments and an office.

Weinman, owner of the three homes, confirmed he was in the process of remodeling one apartment in the rear of 321 Division St. He said he spent $10,000 on a new roof at one of the houses.

Jeannette firefighters were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Hempfield, Penn Township, Penn Borough, Greensburg, Irwin, Sutersville and North Huntingdon.

Rettger said he called for assistance from numerous fire companies because it can be difficult to find a large number of volunteer firefighters available in the middle of the afternoon.

The Red Cross said late Monday it assisted seven adults and four children who lived in the apartments.

“We provided them with comfort kits, blankets, toys and resources for immediate assistance,” a Red Cross spokeswoman said.