Fire takes vacant SR Twp. house
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — It wasn't the plan, but a vacant house set to be demolished was burned in an apparent accidental fire Tuesday morning.
What exactly started the fire about 10 a.m. at the two-story, barn-style home on Stamm Road, however, wasn't immediately clear.
“I was cleaning it up for hunting ground,” said owner James Partridge of Sandy Lake, Mercer County, noting that the house sits on 79 acres he bought several months ago.
Partridge said he was burning brush near the house and a contractor was cutting out copper inside when the fire started.
“I don't know if he caught something hot and started it, or I did it,” Partridge said. “Either way, it was accidental.”
Ryan Hanchosky, chief of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company, agreed. He said state police called in the fire.
Crews made an exterior attack, Hanchosky said, and had the blaze under control in about an hour. No one was injured.
The fire was still burning when firefighters left with the understanding that Partridge was going to watch it until a demolition crew showed up.
The house had been vacant for about a year, the owner said. The home was not insured.
Assisting the Slippery Rock VFC were firefighters from Unionville and Harrisville in Butler County and Pine Township and Grove City in Mercer County.
