SR fire looks like total loss, officials said
Local departments fought a house fire late Friday night on West Cooper Street in Slippery Rock, and officials said the building could be a total loss.
Crews were dispatched around 10:40 p.m. to 311 West Cooper Street in the borough after neighbors reported flames coming out of the side of the building.
Ryan Hanchosky, chief of Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company and Rescue Team, said in a Saturday interview that the callers were unsure if anyone was home during the blaze.
“We did an interior attack to start, with no findings of occupants inside,” he said. “We found out the tenants were in Pittsburgh at a retirement party, so no one was hurt.”
Firefighters did “an extensive overhaul” of the upper floors as the fire had spread to the shingle and metal roofs of the residence.
“We went up to the second story and started pulling down the ceiling to get to the fire,” Hanchosky said.
Crews fought the fire for over two hours, with the last department leaving in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The cause of the fire is under the investigation of the state police fire marshal, according to Hanchosky.
“It’s probably going to be a total loss,” he said. “There was heavy smoke damage and heavy fire damage to the building.”
In addition to the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company and Rescue Team, Harrisville and Unionville Volunteer Fire companies, Butler City Bureau of Fire, Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company ambulance, Grove City Volunteer Fire Department and Pine Township Volunteer Fire Company of Mercer Countyall responded to the scene.
“Everybody did a good job,” Hanchosky said.
