No injuries were reported in a fire in Jeannette on Wednesday afternoon that left a home with extensive damage, according to fire Chief Bill Frye.
When firefighters got to the home at the intersection of Chestnut and Lavelle streets around 12:30 p.m., there was fire in the back two rooms on the first floor.
“There were reports of possibly somebody trapped, so we actually sent a crew in to search before we even had water on the fire just to verify,” he said. “We did not find anybody inside.”
A person who was home at the time the blaze broke out was able to escape and call 911. Authorities confirmed that a second person who was believed to have possibly been inside left before the fire started, Frye said.
A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause. A cat did not survive. Heavy smoke could be seen from Division Street and elsewhere in city. Fire trucks had to navigate a closure of a section of Chestnut Street as a result of a wall collapse in May.
Firefighters were digging through items that continued to smolder about an hour after the blaze was reported.
“There was a lot of contents in the house, it was hard to navigate through,” Frye said.
