Fire chief suspects arson in vacant house fire
A house that has sat vacant for several years on North Gallatin Avenue in Uniontown caught fire Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters from Uniontown, South Union, Hopwood and North Union battled the blaze which started at 12:33 p.m. for nearly four hours.
“The guys did a heck of a job,” said Chuck Coldren, Uniontown Fire Department chief.
“I commend the guys for sticking it out. Sometimes, manpower is a real issue here in the daytime.”
Coldren said the cause of the fire is under investigation by the state police fire marshal, but said it’s definitely arson, “without a doubt.”
He said the house has sat vacant for about eight or 10 years, and it has been condemned about two or three times.
Coldren said he called the city’s engineering firm, K2 Engineering in Uniontown, to assess the damage. He’s hoping the city has enough money to conduct an emergency demolition. ABC Schoolhouse, a child daycare center that sits next to the vacant structure, was not damaged, according to Mary Jane Artis, daycare manager, and all of the children were safe as well.
“We saw flames coming out the back of the house, and we evacuated the children,” Artis said.
Artis said daycare center staff first evacuated the children to the front porch of Dolfi’s Funeral Home, and once firefighters arrived on scene, they helped staff to escort the children safely to a temporary site.
Artis said staff followed an emergency operations plan the center has in place, and parents were notified.
No injuries have been reported.