Roscoe fire damages house, funeral home

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help one of the victims.

Charleroi Fire Capt. Matt Prentice helps to battle a blaze Friday morning on Furlong Avenue in Roscoe. Jeff Helsel / Mon Valley Independent

A structure fire Friday morning in Roscoe destroyed part of a house and caused damage to a neighboring funeral home.

No injuries were reported in the fire at 1004 Furlong Ave. Tyler Palfrey, first assistant fire chief for Roscoe Fire Department said there was heavy smoke from the second floor window. The second assistant chief, who was first on the scene, called for a second alarm.

“As soon as the first engine got there,

This is an aerial view of the Friday morning fire in Roscoe. Courtesy of Dave Wadsworth

they had the initial attack within five minutes of getting on scene — getting it knocked down pretty well and it did work its way over to the neighboring building,” he said. “It pretty much destroyed the upper part of the house.”

JoAnn Pavlic, who owns Melenyzer Funeral Homes and Cremation Services next to the house, ran outside and saw flames coming from the second floor. Parts of the house were melting onto the funeral home and there was water, electrical and smoke damage on the left side of the building after the fire expanded.

“It’s just sad to see, but the rest of the funeral home was good,” Pavlic said. “Right now, we have water and electricity shut down, and an electrician is coming tomorrow to fix it, put it back and go from there.”

No one was injured in the funeral home, according to Pavlic, but the two apartments above the funeral home had water and fire damage as well as roof damage — prompting her and a neighbor in the other apartment to evacuate for a couple days while the smoke clears.

The funeral home posted a message on its Facebook page thanking the firefighters and informing the public that it can still accommodate anyone at its Charleroi location or at Pavlic Funeral Home.

Palfrey said firefighters stopped the damage from spreading to the apartments.

The Washington County fire marshal deemed the cause of the fire to be an electrical issue, according to Palfrey.

Sixteen crews worked inside and outside both structures to contain the fire, according to a Facebook post from Roscoe Fire Department, which thanked neighboring companies for helping. Units remained at the scene for approximately two hours.

The American Red Cross was also there to help two families in the home and is continuing to assist them.

Also responding were the California Volunteer Fire Department, Fallowfield Fire Company, Bentleyville Fire-Rescue, North Belle Vernon FD Station 80, Charleroi Fire Department, Brownsville Fire Company #1, South Brownsville Volunteer Fire Company #1, Belle Vernon Vol Fire Company-Brownsville Ambulance Service, Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services, Fayette County Rehab.

“It could have been a lot worse than what it was,” Palfrey said. “I’m actually thankful it stopped where it did, where we got it put out. We had a good group of guys to help.”

A fundraiser has been set up on GoFund-Me to help Sherry Smith-Wingo, who was displaced by the fire. Anyone who wants to donate can go to the website and search for “Urgent Help Needed: Mom’s House Fire Recovery.”