Crews respond to apartment building fire in Slippery Rock
SLIPPERY ROCK — Residents of a Main Street apartment building won’t be able to stay in their homes overnight after an electrical fire caused significant indoor smoke damage.
Several Butler County fire crews were dispatched to reports of a working fire just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23 at the two-story structure located at 168 S. Main St.
Ryan Hanchosky, chief of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, said the cause of the fire was “something electrical,” though the exact point of where it started was still uncertain. The fire originated on the first floor of the 10-unit building.
“There were heavy smoke conditions the entire time throughout the entire complex, we had it confined to apartment 8 only,” Hanchosky said.
Nathan Wulff, assistant chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company, said the heat from the fire burst a waterline inside the building, which kept the fire from spreading too far.
Hanchosky said nobody was injured inside the building, though there was a medical emergency outside due to reaction from the smoke.
According to Hanchosky, the smoke damage was significant enough to displace residents at least for the night.
“The smoke damage, they’re not going to be able to live in there tonight, they have to get electrical guys out here to make sure the building’s good enough to turn all power back on,” Hanchosky said.
