Two houses caught fire in Jeannette early Monday after flames at one residence spread to the neighboring structure, said fire Chief Vance Phillips

No one was at the South Eighth Street house when the 12:43 a.m. fire broke out in the rear of the residence, he said. Three people safely escaped from the house next door. Houses in that block are nestled close together and the blaze climbed up the rear of both structures, he said.

“That area of the city ... we're really lucky for the response time that it wasn't four houses,” Phillips said.

The cause is under investigation, he said.

It is the fifth fire in the city since April 23, when a three-story building on Clay Avenue collapsed after a huge blaze that firefighters battled for hours. The cause of that fire has been ruled undetermined because of the extent of damage.

The following day, a blaze at a North Third Street home was intentionally set, Phillips said.

On May 11, a firefighter suffered minor burns at an Ellsworth Avenue blaze. That fire remains under investigation, but it appears it resulted from an electrical problem, he said. That house was unoccupied but appeared to be available for rent.

The cause of a May 21 fire at an abandoned house on South Seventh Street is being investigated, he said.

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