Fire damages Roscoe house, neighboring funeral home
Ed Reidmann
Fire ripped through a house in Roscoe and also damaged a neighboring apartment and funeral home Friday morning, although there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Firefighters from nearly a dozen departments in the Mon Valley were called to 1004 Furlong Ave. about 8:30 a.m. and began battling the blaze through frigid conditions, a Washington County 911 dispatcher said.
The fire from the house spread to an upstairs apartment connected to Melenyzer Funeral Homes & Cremation Services next door, severely damaging that unit, owner and funeral director JoAnn Pavlic said. Another upstairs apartment where Pavlic lives was not affected by the fire, she said, although the building’s siding and roof were damaged.
The funeral home’s chapel and a break room sustained water damage, but the viewing room was untouched by the fire, she said. Pavlic added that they would be able to move services to two of Melenyzer’s sister funeral homes in Charleroi, and she expected other businesses would step in to assist them, if needed.
“We do have other facilities that we own that we will be able to do services there. I think we’ll be OK between our insurance and everything going on. We have fantastic work by the area volunteer fire departments,” Pavlic said of the firefighters who kept the blaze from spreading. “I’m sure our local funeral directors would be willing to help us in any event we need their help. We’re always pretty close-knit when it comes to tragedy.”
It was not immediately known what sparked the fire at 1004 Furlong Ave., or if anyone was home at the time of the blaze. The two-story house appeared to sustain heavy interior damage, but was still standing when crews finished extinguishing the flames.
Electricity and natural gas services to that area of the neighborhood were shut off while crews were on scene.
Firefighters from Stockdale, Charleroi, California, Fallowfield, Bentleyville, Belle Vernon, North Belle Vernon, Brownsville and South Brownsville were among the departments that assisted Roscoe at the scene. A phone call to the Roscoe Fire Department was not immediately returned Friday.