Connellsville house destroyed by accidental fire
Officials said no one was injured in a fire that destroyed a house located on the South Side of Connellsville late Saturday evening. The fire was not the work of an arsonist, said firefighters from New Haven Hose Co. Assistant Chief Kevin Karwatsky said the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the 912 Aetna St. residence at 5:04 p.m.
“There was extensive damaged throughout,” he said, adding that the accidental fire started in the kitchen, burned through the wall and up into the second floor.
According to Karwatsky, resident Dorothy Meadows said she was cooking and had a pot in the oven. She heard the pot crackling so she removed it from the oven, placed it on top of the stove and left the room. He said Meadows saw a glare coming from the kitchen moments later and went in to see that the cooking range and the wall behind it was on fire.
Karwatsky said crews had the fire under control within 20 minutes and remained on scene for two and a half hours.
He stressed that this fire was not suspicious in nature and that people automatically assume that every fire in Connellsville is arson.
The city has been plagued with a string of arsons within the last 16 months. The first suspicious fire occurred on Oct. 21, 2003, in an abandoned home at 914 S. Pittsburgh St.
Since that time, 20 arsons and/or suspicious fires have taken place and are under investigation, said city police Chief Stephen Cooper in an earlier interview.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist. Fayette County Crime Stoppers is offering an additional $4,000.