Cause of fire that destroyed Tarentum garage, damaged neighboring house on Christmas Eve under investigation
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The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating a blaze that destroyed a garage and damaged a neighboring home in Tarentum on Saturday morning.
Summit Hose Chief Josh Fox said the fire behind a home in the 200 block of West Ninth Avenue, along Sefts Way, in West Tarentum was reported shortly after 8 a.m.
The two-car garage and a vehicle inside were destroyed, Fox said.
A small home adjacent to the garage sustained cosmetic damage to its exterior, but Fox said firefighters stopped the fire from getting inside.
A person in that house suffered a hand injury, but Fox said they declined treatment. No other injuries were reported.
No information on the cause of the fire was immediately available from the fire marshal, Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said.
In addition to all three Tarentum departments, firefighters from Lower Burrell, East Deer and Frazer responded.
“The conditions were challenging due to the weather,” Fox said. “The fire hydrant originally hit was frozen.”
Firefighters went to a second hydrant that was working, he said.
First responders were challenged by very icy conditions. The temperature was close to zero.
“Everybody did a great job working together and keeping each other as safe as possible,” Fox said. “For the conditions that we faced, everybody did a good job containing the fire to the fire building, itself.”