Police searching for person of interest in Jeannette house fire

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — A house on Magee Avenue in Jeannette is now condemned after a fire on Saturday evening, but investigators are now calling it suspicious.

Nearby businesses caught a person of interest on camera and police are trying to identify her, to speak to her.

Police said she’s a white woman with brown hair and wears glasses. She was seen near the home on Magee Avenue right before smoke started rolling out of the house on Saturday night.

”When we arrived, I believe the big window in the front of the building was already previously missing and broken out, so that enabled the fire to take off a little faster than it would have if the house was closed up,” Jeannette Fire Chief Bill Frye said.

The home hasn’t been lived in for years, andthere weren’t any utilities hooked up to the house. Investigators said they know the fire started on the first floor in the living room, but they have not been able to figure out exactly what caused it.

”At this point, we’re still calling it undetermined because we don’t have anything that says it was intentionally done and we don’t have anything that says it wasn’t,” Frye explained. That’s why they’re hoping to track down the woman who was seen on surveillance.

“She may know if somebody else was there; she may have seen something; she may have accidentally caused the fire and panicked and left, so we really need to speak to her about what she has to say,” Frye said.

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The fire did enough damage to condemn the property, but even just getting the call poses some risks for first responders.

”The hazard of vacant building fires is obviously the dilapidation of the structure, they’re all in various states. We don’t know if it has a bad roof, some of the floors may be weakened; not heating or not cooling the property that causes a lot to expansion and contraction, so these properties are constantly going through different phases of conditions,” Frye said.

If you know who the woman is, you’re asked to call Jeannette Police. Tips can remain anonymous.

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