Third Street fire deemed accidental, total loss
An accidental grease fire Tuesday afternoon caused extensive damage to a city home and resulted in a firefighter being taken to a hospital, officials said Wednesday.
Around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, fire departments were dispatched to 563 Third St. in Butler for a first-floor fire. They were on scene for four hours.
Chris Switala, chief of Butler Bureau of Fire, said the fire began when grease ignited on a stove and was difficult to extinguish because of the home’s construction. The house contains three apartments.
“(The house) is a balloon frame, there are open spaces behind the walls from the basement to the attic. When the fire got in the void spaces it made it a dangerous fire to fight,” he said. “Most of it was in the walls and ceiling areas.”
Switala said an internal investigation concluded that the fire began accidentally in a rear kitchen and spread through the walls to the attic. Walls had to be knocked down to successfully fight the blaze.
“The house is a total loss. There’s significant structural damage to the rear of the house on all floors, with water and smoke damage to the rest of the house,” he said.
A tenant, who was the only person in the house at the time, was medically evaluated on scene for minor burns and smoke inhalation. He was not transported, Switala said.
He added that a Butler Township Volunteer Fire District firefighter was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital from the scene and was released soon after.
“He had reported chest pain, which ended up being a muscle pull,” Switala said.
Chip Lewis Marra has owned the house for nearly 30 years, and said he used to live in it. Marra said there are three rental units in the building, and he has insurance on the property.
The house had a recently installed tin roof, which Butler firefighters said held the heat and smoke inside, making the fire harder to fight.
The fire was under control at around 5:30 p.m., but firefighters continued extinguishing flames and smoke until late in the evening.
Butler Bureau of Fire, Butler Township Volunteer Fire District, VA Butler Fire and Emergency Services, Butler police and Butler Ambulance Service responded to the scene.
