ARNOLD, Pa. — A firework caused a fire that damaged two homes in Westmoreland County overnight.
According to neighbors, flames could be seen shooting from both homes along 3rd Avenue in Arnold around 4 a.m. Wednesday.
An officer patrolling the streets spotted the fire and called emergency crews to the scene.
Neighbors say flames were coming from these two side by side homes on 3rd Ave, they don’t believe anyone was living in them @wpxi pic.twitter.com/Qxc0xJvZrQ
— Liz Kilmer (@LizKilmerWPXI) July 4, 2018
The fire chief told Channel 11’s Liz Kilmer that it appears a firework landed on the roof of one of the homes. The flames then spread to the home next door.
Both homes are abandoned, fire officials said.
Nobody was hurt, but firefighters did have some challenges.
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"The problem is that we had a lot of heat in between there and what actually happened," said Chief Christopher O'Leath, of Arnold Volunteer Fire Department Engine Co. 2. "There were two levels of ceiling in there. It was trapping a lot of smoke and heat which kind of had us chasing it around to see where that fire was, to make sure it wasn't burning inside there.
Neighbors who live on either side of the damaged homes evacuated as a precaution. One man we spoke with grabbed his 3-year-old son and got out quickly.
“It makes me feel a little uneasy,” said Erskine Metcalf. “Sleeping in the middle of the night, you have fires. No one lives there so anything could have happened.”
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