Fire destroys Charleroi residence

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
A lit cigarette caused a fire in Charleroi on Halloween, according to the borough’s fire chief.
Charleroi Fire Department was dispatched to the 700 block of Church Way shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday after borough Councilwoman Jody Cheplic called the department to report that she saw smoke coming out of a small apartment located across the alley that lines her backyard. Charleroi fire Chief Bob Whiten Jr. said the structure is “a total loss.”
He said an unidentified woman is the sole occupant of the apartment and was not home when the blaze started. Firefighters had to smash the windows and broke down the door to access the three-room apartment that sits above a garage/basement.
Whiten said the apartment’s resident told him she was there a short time before the fire and lit a cigarette before leaving the house, but that everything was OK before she left.
Whiten said she left the cigarette behind and it “somehow caught the mattress on fire.”
“From there it spread and destroyed the place,” he said. “This used to be a really nice little apartment.
“I’ve had guys who are firefighters who have lived here in the past and it was a perfect little place for them. It’s a shame because it will probably have to be demolished now.”
Cheplic, who remained on-scene standing in the rain until the fire department left, said she is “just glad everyone is OK,” and added that “it’s a shame it couldn’t be saved, but the firefighters tried their hardest.”
Whiten described the fire as “an accident” and said that it was unnecessary to call a fire marshal to investigate because the resident “told me exactly what happened.”
Fallowfield Township and Lock no. 4 volunteer fire companies aided Charleroi firefighters. Charleroi police directed traffic.
Crews remained on scene until around 5 p.m.