Woman dies in South Strabane senior high-rise fire
A 68-year-old woman died Wednesday morning after a fire started in her apartment at a South Strabane Township senior living high-rise.
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco identified the victim as Kimberly Haines, a resident of Thomas Campbell Apartments.
South Strabane Township Fire Chief Jordan Cramer said an official cause has not been determined, but that the fire appears to have started from a lit cigarette.
“Initially it’s looking like some combination of smoking and an oxygen tank had something to do with the fire,” Cramer said.
Emergency crews were called to the apartment building at about 7:45 a.m. for an automatic fire alarm, according to Cramer.
“While the aerial truck was en route to that call, we received an additional call for another smoke detector activation. At that point, it kind of, you know, leads us to start thinking that something is going on,” Cramer said, adding they soon learned the building’s sprinkler system had been activated.
According to Cramer, the fire was contained to a fourth-floor apartment.
One neighboring resident was displaced as a result of the fire and will be moved to a different housing unit at Thomas Campbell.
The fatal fire comes not long after the three-year anniversary of another fire that killed 78-year-old Frances Venen at the senior living facility.
Dozens of residents were displaced by the Dec. 23, 2021 fire that started on the sixth floor.
Since then, the facility invested $7 million into installing a sprinkler system and modernizing the fire alarms.
“That is what held this incident to what it was today,” Cramer said. “What happened here today looks a lot different than three years ago.”
According to Cramer, residents are not permitted to smoke in their apartments.
“We just had more communication with the staff about that, and they’re likely to ramp up enforcement of that,” Cramer said.
Haines’ cause and manner of death have yet to be determined, Warco noted in a release.
Also responding to the fire were Washington and Canton Township fire departments.