No one was injured as a result of a house fire Thursday afternoon in the City of Butler.
Butler City and Township Joint Fire Chief Chris Switala was among those arriving to the scene in the 100 block of South Street near Center Avenue shortly after noon.
“There was heavy smoke coming from the attic windows on both sides of the house. When we got there we had confirmation that everyone was out. There was one tenant that was in the home at the time of the fire and they were out when we arrived on scene.”
Crews from Penn Township and The Butler VA arrived to help city and Butler Township firefighters. It took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control and an additional 90 minutes before crews were able to clear the scene.
The residence is not livable at this point and the Red Cross is helping the tenant. Switala estimates that the fire resulted in about $25,000 in damage.
“There was fire damage on the attic and there was water damage throughout the second and first floor.”
The cause of the fire is still undetermined and under investigation but it appears to have started in some wiring during renovations. According to Switala, the house did have a smoke alarm but it did not have a battery. A neighbor alerted the tenant inside about the smoke.
