Torch sparks fire that damaged New Kensington house

A person doing plumbing work sparked a fire that damaged a New Kensington home Friday afternoon, fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said.

The fire in the 400 block of Pershing Drive in the city’s Mount Vernon neighborhood was reported shortly after 2 p.m.

Saliba said volunteer firefighters from New Kensington, Arnold and Lower Burrell had the fire under control in about 20 minutes and left the scene after about 90 minutes.

Nobody was hurt.

Saliba estimated the fire caused about $35,000 in damage to the two-story wood house, which he said can be repaired. He said the woman who lives there planned to stay with a friend Friday night.

According to Saliba, a friend of the homeowner was installing a hose bib on the outside the house, using a torch to solder a valve onto a pipe coming out of the wall. He said the man left for a few minutes to go to a store and discovered smoke upon his return.

Saliba said wood above the pipe caught fire, and the fire traveled inside the wall to the second floor.

“It must have smoldered for a while,” Saliba said.

To extinguish the fire and stop it from spreading, Saliba said, firefighters had to open the outside wall from the first floor to the second floor, as well as the interior wall in a second-floor bedroom and first-floor living room.

“The guys did a fantastic job making a good stop,” he said.

There was a good bit of smoke damage to the second floor and minor water damage to both floors, Saliba said.

An insurance adjuster and restoration company already had responded as fire crews were leaving.