Morning Roundup: Fire damages Fairfield Township house; windstorms on hold until Friday

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Jan. 11.

Fairfield Township house damaged by fire

Parts of a Fairfield Township residence sustained damage following a chimney fire early Thursday morning.

The Fairfield Township Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched to a home on Rabbit Ridge Drive at 3:45 a.m., said Deputy Fire Chief James Stiffler.

The fire was found in the chimney and along the nearby wall, Stiffler said, and heavy smoke filled the home.

Residents were alerted to the fire by their smoke detectors. There were no injuries reported, Stiffler said.

Fire crews had to clear the roadway of several trees downed in recent windstorms to access the home, he said. Other homes along the street have not yet regained power following an outage sparked by the storms.

Wilpen, Waterford, Ligonier, Darlington, New Florence and Seward fire departments assisted at the scene, Stiffler said. Because of the home’s remote location and lack of access to municipal water supply, extra tankers were brought to the scene, he said.

Windstorms put on pause

Pittsburgh area residents can expect a break from recent high winds Thursday.

Sustained winds of 10 to 15 mph and gusts up to 25 mph in the evening are forecast said Lee Hendricks, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. Temperatures are expected to fall in the lower 40s for most of the day, dropping into the 2os in the evening.

Windstorms will pick up again Friday and Saturday, Hendricks said.

Friday’s forecast includes sustained winds of 25 to 30 mph and gusts up to 40 mph. Saturday is expected to bring winds 30 to 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph.

“This is almost a clone of the storm system that just passed through the area,” Hendricks said, but less rain is expected.

Irwin man crashes vehicle onto Hempfield lawn

An Irwin man crashed his vehicle onto a Hempfield lawn while traveling Saturday along Route 30.

Kolbe Roscoe, 20, was traveling in the left lane on Route 30 at 11:04 a.m. when snow- and slush-covered roads caused him to lose control of the vehicle, according to state police.

According to the report, the back left of Roscoe’s vehicle hit the center concrete barrier on the roadway where Route 30 intersects with Gibralter Way. He oversteered to the right after impact, causing the vehicle to travel off the right side of the Route 30 onto a lawn on Spruce Street, the report said.

Roscoe’s vehicle overturned while traveling through the lawn before coming to an upright rest, state police said.

Roscoe was not injured in the crash, but he was transported to Westmoreland Hospital by Mutual Aid.