Sunroom torched in Saturday evening fire
The owners of a house at 321 Westbrook Drive in Butler Township were on vacation when a fire burned their sunroom Saturday afternoon.
Butler Township Volunteer Fire District Chief Kevin Smith said the sunroom, which looked like it was built as an addition to the house, was destroyed in the fire, leaving the rest of the house with heat and smoke damage. A cat was in the house at the time of the fire, but was found safe, Smith said.
Smith also said the cause of the fire is still undetermined.
“They're not going to be able to stay there when they get back,” Smith said of the homeowners Sunday. “I would say there is probably around $50,000 in damage.”
According to Smith, the call came in to first responders at around 6 p.m. as a working fire. When Butler Township VFD arrived on scene, flames were showing from the sunroom, and some of the other departments called to the scene were put on standby.
“Within about a half-hour the fire was under control,” Smith said.
Butler Bureau of Fire and the VA Butler Healthcare Fire Department also responded to the scene, while Connoquenessing Township Volunteer Fire Company was on standby, stationed at the VA headquarters.
Crews were on scene for about two hours, and the Butler Township VFD was called back to the house again at around 1 a.m. for some troubleshooting.
“It was just a little hot spot we had to take care of,” Smith said.
