Woman evacuates down fire escape
One woman escaped from a fire Friday in her building on West Cunningham Street in Butler.
“The tenant reported the smoke alarm sounded, alerting her to the fire,” said Butler City Fire Chief Chris Switala.
Butler County 911 dispatchers called out multiple departments around 7:09 a.m. for a structure fire at 554 W. Cunningham St. with visible flames and a woman trapped on the second floor.
“The female was able to self-evacuate down the fire escape,” Switala said. “When our crews arrived, there were flames coming out of the front, left-side corner (facing Cunningham Street).”
According to Switala, there are two apartments on the top floor. The one from which the woman escaped had the fire damage, while the other apartment had only smoke damage.
He said there was also some water damage on the first floor, which used to serve as the business-front for the Smash House. The since-closed business used to run a “rage room,” or a space where people paid money to break things.
“There's nothing in there,” Switala said. “There's nothing operating now.”
Crews remained at the scene for more than an hour. Switala said they were largely watching for hotspots that may have re-ignited because the initial fire was dealt with within the first 30 minutes.
“They got the fire knocked down fairly quick,” he said. “It's like plaster and lath construction, so we just had to open up the walls enough to expose all the areas with hotspots.”
A state police fire marshal has been called to investigate the origin and cause of the fire.
In addition to city firefighters, Butler Township firefighters and VA Butler Fire and Emergency Services as well as Butler City Police and Butler Ambulance all assisted at the scene.
