Fire marshal: Spontaneous combustion caused Allegheny Township fire

Teghan Simonton | Monday, February 3, 2020 1:18 p.m.

Brian C. Rittmeyer | Tribune-Review

Firefighters were called to the scene of a house fire Sunday shortly after 1 p.m. on Bagdad Road in Allegheny Township.

A fire that extensively damaged an Allegheny Township house last month was caused by the spontaneous combustion of some oily rags, a fire marshal said Monday.

The fire at 1241 Bagdad Road was reported after 1 p.m. Jan. 26. The house was under construction and unoccupied. The homeowners declined to comment.

The cause of the fire was undetermined for about a week, as Allegheny Township police and a state fire marshal, Trooper Seth Helman, investigated.

Helman ruled the fire an accident, caused by some rags soaked in stain that were left in the house. Helman said the rags were piled inside a tied plastic shopping bag. He said the compression of the stains caused spontaneous combustion.

“It was totally an accident,” Helman said.

Helman estimated the damage to the structure to cost somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000.

A neighbor, Nick Balestra, discovered the fire. Balestra saw the inside of the house was engulfed in flames and promptly turned off natural gas to the house at the meter.

Volunteer firefighters from various Alle-Kiski Valley departments responded to the incident. They found heavy damage to the first floor of the house. The stairway to the second floor had also burned away. Firefighters said they accessed the second floor by climbing ladders to a window above a three-bay garage.

No one was inside, and no one was injured in the blaze, officials said.