Etna house fire touches off 'flammable liquid' explosion

A man is accused of dousing his rental home in gasoline and setting it on fire following a blaze that damaged two properties Tuesday in Etna.

Elmer Lewis, 74, is charged with two counts of aggravated arson, six counts of arson, one count of causing catastrophe and five counts of criminal mischief.

Fire companies from across the southern Allegheny Valley were dispatched to the 80 block of Vilsack Street at 11:42 a.m. Tuesday, according to Allegheny County Emergency Services after neighbors reported an explosion and fire.

“The front garage door blew off the building,” said neighbor Tim Polk. “It blew on down the road.”

Etna Fire Chief Greg Porter said the blaze started at 86 Vilsack and spread to the next home.

A Beaver Falls Fire Department K-9 detected accelerant in a sniff search of 86 Vilsack Street and the garage of 84 Vilsack Street, according to the criminal complaint.

Police described an encounter one witness had with Lewis as the fire unfolded where he admitted to starting it, claiming mistreatment by the landlord.

The structure at 86 Vilsack contains five occupied units. The fire was contained to one unit, and no one was hurt, Porter said.

A Millvale firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion.

Neighbor John Thomas said the man who lived in the house next door was known to fix everyone’s cars in his garage. He said he saw smoke and fire and decided to walk down the street, which was filled with first responders and firetrucks.

Polk noted the large emergency response that took up a normally quiet Vilsack Street.

“Nothing ever’s happened like this in the 21 years I’ve lived here,” he said.

Neighbor Jadon Zelepos, who lives on Vilsack, said he was coming home from lunch when he saw smoke near his house. He headed to nearby Kraus Street to watch the firefighters extinguish the blaze.

“The whole house was just engulfed in flames,” he said. He saw the garage door at the neighboring house explode and with it “a whole lot of debris.”

Sid Schibler of nearby Wilson Street said she was awakened by the sirens.

“I was very sad for the people that live there. They’re decent neighbors,” she said. “Any house fire, really, is traumatic and sad and, honestly, chaotic — because it was really going when I came out.”

The Red Cross’ disaster action team helped three people after the fire, said spokeswoman Nicole Roschella.