Early morning blaze leaves 13 homeless

Oct. 16--SHARON -- Thirteen people and four dogs are in temporary housing following a fire Monday morning in Sharon.

No one was hurt in the blaze that started just after 5 a.m. at a four-plex house at 382 S. Irvine Ave., Fire Chief Bob Fiscus said.

The fire, which Fiscus said was not suspicious, is being investigated by the state police fire marshal. The blaze was contained to two apartments but smoke damage prevents all of the families from returning.

The four displaced families -- nine adults and four children -- were temporarily sheltered a few blocks away at the Sharon Municipal Building for a few hours. Fiscus said it was the first time he was aware of the building being used for the purpose.

"We talked to the Red Cross, who said it would be about an hour until they could get someone to the scene," Fiscus said. "So, we made a decision to move the people to the city building due to its close proximity to the scene."

Two of the families were moved to apartments owned by the same property manager, KMC Property Management Co., while the others were assisted by the American Red Cross. None of the dogs were separated from their owners, Fiscus said.

The Red Cross provided the families with food, clothing and financial assistance for them to stay in local hotels, said Dan Tobin, director of marketing and communications for the American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region.

"We'll provide the initial assistance to help the family get through the first few days," Tobin said. "And then we'll have a case worker who follows up with the family."

KMC Property Management Co. has insurance, but none of the tenants had renter's insurance. Six people, making up two of the four families, were displaced in May from an apartment building on Lee Avenue in Farrell, when the building's front porch roof collapsed, Fiscus said.

"You really felt for two of the families, because they were displaced by the partial building collapse in Farrell and now they were displaced by a house fire," the chief said.

The incident also caused the surrounding neighborhood to temporarily lose power, as the fire traveled on the outside of the building along the wires. Although first responders asked Penn Power to cut the building's power, Fiscus said the firefighters had to work quickly or risk the entire building burning down.

"When you're dealing with electricity, you normally want to keep the water away," he said. "Once we started mixing water with the power lines, it blew the transformer and cut power to the building."

Farrell and Hermitage fire departments and McGonigle's Ambulance Service also assisted.

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