Fire damages 3 houses on the North Side

A fire Sunday damaged three North Side row houses where residents already were fighting health problems.

The fire in the 1700 block of Brighton Road appears to have been accidental, although the arson squad was investigating, said Pittsburgh fire Battalion Chief Mark Trocchio.

Lawna Anger, 33, who for eight years has rented the house where the fire started, said she, her husband and five children were barbecuing outside when a passer-by noticed flames coming from the second-floor windows about 6:15 p.m. Both she and her husband are on disability. Her landlord, who declined to comment, offered them another place to live, and the family was being helped by the Red Cross, she said.

Neighbor Lenora Jones, 78, is at a rehabilitation hospital for treatment of a broken leg as well as lung, breast and pelvic cancer, according to Jones' great-niece Rosalind Richardson and daughter-in-law Cecelia Fortson.

The fire spread to Jones' home and caused smoke damage to Richardson's sister's house, on the other side of Anger's. Jackie Richardson, 54, has been staying at her sister's since suffering a stroke in January, Rosalind Richardson said.

"If they can make it through (Hurricane) Katrina, we can make it through this. No one lost their life," she said.

Trocchio estimated damage at $25,000.