Couple, 26 cats displaced after house fire in Arnold

Paul Guggenheimer
Tuesday, July 13, 2021 10:43 a.m. | Tuesday, July 13, 2021 10:43 a.m.

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Louis B. Ruediger | Tribune-Review

A firefighter works on the third floor on the 3900 block of Third Avenue on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, while responding to a fire.

Louis B. Ruediger | Tribune-Review

Arnold residents Pete Pototsky and Wendy Zingarelli escaped a fire at their home on Third Avenue on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. The cause of fire is believe to be electrical related.

Louis B. Ruediger | Tribune-Review

Arnold and New Kensington fire companies respond to a house fire on the 3900 block of Third Avenue on Tuesday, July 13 2021. Residents Pete Pototsky and Wendy Zingarelli escaped the blaze unharmed. The cause of fire is believe to be electrical related.

A couple and 26 cats could be looking for a place to stay after a house fire Tuesday morning in Arnold.

Arnold Fire Chief Walter Gouza said the residents, Pete Pototsky, 65, and Wendy Zingarelli, 59 were able to get out of the home without injury. He said the fire started on the third floor of the home on the 3900 block of Third Avenue just before 8 a.m.

None of the firefighters were hurt.

“Crews made entry and found a good amount of fire on the third floor,” he said. “The fire was knocked down.”

Gouza said the cause is believed to be electrical. He said there was a “large amount” of cats in the home.

“I went upstairs to the top floor to play on my computer when I saw flames in the front corner,” Pototsky said. “Between the smoke and the fact that I couldn’t see, I couldn’t even get the whole way up the stairs. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, so I came back down.”

Potosky said he and Zingarelli had fire extinguisher but it didn’t do any good.

“I went and got a bucket full of water so that we could throw the water on it, but by that time the smoke got so bad that I didn’t want to get smoke inhalation so we just exited the house,” Zingarelli said.

Neighbors saw flames shooting out of a third floor window and called the Arnold fire department.

The couple rents the home. Zingarelli said she has lived there for 25 years and Pototsky for the last 14.

The house sustained a good deal of smoke and water damage though no exact estimate was immediately available. The couple hopes to eventually be able to return to the house.

“The house is not that bad off,” Zingarelli said.

Nevertheless, the house was declared unsafe for Pototsky and Zingarelli to stay in. The Red Cross is providing resources and assistance.

Some 26 cats live in the house. Zingarelli said she’s trying to find homes for most of them.

“As far as I know they are OK, but I couldn’t even get some of them to come out,” she said.

The house is owned by John Smittle Jr. Development.

“It’s upsetting. I hate seeing my tenants out on their porch right now and not being able to be in their home,” said property manager Jamie Smittle. “I’m very grateful that they are OK, and it seems like the cats are OK, too. I hope they can get back into their home quickly.”