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Vacant House Fire Under Investigation
Police, fire marshal probing Olive Street blaze
By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
April 17, 2024
Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac photo)
McKeesport police and the Allegheny County fire marshal’s office are investigating a blaze that caused extensive damage Tuesday afternoon to a vacant house in the 500 block of Olive Street.
Emergency personnel were dispatched at 5:40 p.m. when passersby reported smoke coming from the two-story wood frame structure. McKeesport fire Chief Jeff Tomovcsik said the call was raised to a second alarm, bringing in additional volunteer firefighters from Dravosburg, Glassport, Liberty, Munhall No. 4, Port Vue and White Oak No. 1 as well as a crew from Allegheny County Airport.
The Salvation Army also assisted.
No injuries were reported and the fire did not extend to neighboring properties, Tomovcsik said.
The fire is considered suspicious, Tomovcsik said, because no utilities were connected.
Allegheny County tax records and published obituaries indicate the owner died in 2015, and neighbors said that none of the homes on that side of the block were occupied.
Police were interviewing potential witnesses last night.
The fire was one of several incidents that kept city emergency crews on the road. As police and fire crews were working on Olive Street, personnel were dispatched to an accident in the city’s East End.
Emergency personnel said a car left East Fifth Avenue at Elm Street at collided with a house at the corner, penetrating the brick wall by several feet.
Tomovcsik said the occupants of the home were upstairs at the time of the crash but were uninjured. The driver, whose name was not immediately available, was treated at the scene and released.
The residents were being assisted by the American Red Cross, Tomovcsik said, and city officials were checking the home for safety on Wednesday. The building’s landlord was making temporary repairs.
Originally published April 17, 2024.
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