A fire Monday night so completely consumed a century-old Allegheny Township house that a deputy state fire marshal on Tuesday wasn't able to identify a cause.
State Trooper Scott Mackanick said that the cause of the fire at Route 356 and Orr Avenue will remain “undetermined.”
The charred ruins were standing but still hot Tuesday, so it was unsafe for him to go inside.
Residents Allyson and Doug Robinson credit the family dog, Roxie, and family friend Chad Kirchartz for alerting Allyson to flee the burning house.
Doug was at work when the fire was discovered at about 9 p.m. Monday. On Tuesday, he had high praise for Roxie, who alerted Kirchartz. Kirchartz, who was fixing a fence, in turn, rushed into the house and awakened the sleeping Allyson.
“(Roxie) was just a run of the mill mixed-breed that we got from Orphans of the Storm,” Doug Robinson said, referring to the animal shelter in Armstrong County. “Well, I guess I was wrong. She's special.”
“All things considered, we're doing OK,” Doug Robinson said. He and his wife are staying with relatives in Vandergrift.
No one was hurt but officials said the couple's other two dogs died. So did a cat that had been rescued from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and adopted by the Robinson family.
Markle Fire Company Second Assistant Chief Matt Rearick said Tuesday the fire must have been smoldering before firefighters were called about 9 p.m.
The volunteers had trouble getting water, according to Rearick. One hydrant was behind a company's fence, so firefighters cut the chain to get inside, he said.
Township emergency management coordinator Lee Schumaker said there is a 5- to 8-year-old agreement with Peneco Oil and Gas to keep the hydrant behind a fence and for firefighters to cut a chain to get to it.
“It works better than for each fire engine to have a key and find it,” he said.
Rearick said tanker trucks provided water from the Orr Avenue side of the house and the hydrant supplied the Route 356 side.
Hyde Park, Allegheny Township, Upper Burrell and Sardis firefighters battled the blaze.
Chuck Biedka is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.
