Owner of fire-damaged apartment house in Greensburg hopes to rebuild - TribLIVE

The owner of a Greensburg rental property damaged by a fire Friday afternoon said he is awaiting an insurance adjuster’s report to determine his next step.

Standing outside his three-story house at 34 Grant St. on Saturday, John Toth said that insurance adjuster and a city inspector were at the property earlier Saturday reviewing the damage.

Toth said he hopes to be able to rebuild the house.

No one in any of the four apartments was reported injured in the fire, which was reported at about 2:30 p.m. Friday.

One tenant was moving their property out of a second-floor apartment Saturday afternoon. Some tenants were being assisted by the American Red Cross and United Way, according to Toth, who lives in Unity.

The fire started when power lines in front of the house were downed by a tree that had toppled along the Grant Street curb of a neighboring property.

Greensburg Fire Chief Tom Bell said that the 18,000-volt power line energized the entire metal roof — heating the roofing nails that were pounded into the wooden roof joists. The roof then caught fire, Bell said.

Bell said there was extensive damage to the third floor, and a section of the roof in the front of the house had collapsed.

A neighbor along Walnut Street below his house had seen three or four arcs of electricity on the roof from the downed power lines, Toth said.

“It was like the perfect storm,” he said.

Toth said he was working on Otterman Street in Greensburg on Friday afternoon when he was notified by a neighbor that the power lines had fallen onto his roof. He later heard fire truck sirens and received a text that the roof was on fire.

He said he was trying to contact the tenants as he was driving to the fire.

A neighbor, Amy Blake of Grant Street, said they heard the tree topple, but it was about 20 minutes before she saw smoke coming from the roof.

“It (smoke) was blowing out all over the roof,” Blake said.

The fallen tree had ripped the electrical line to Blake’s house. Power was being restored Saturday.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Categories: Local | Westmoreland