Monessen blaze ruled arson
MONESSEN – A fire that heavily damaged a house in Monessen Tuesday night has been ruled an arson.
A state police fire marshal issued the ruling in the fire at a two-story frame house at 521 Forest Ave., a blaze that remained under investigation Thursday, Monessen fire Chief Chris Rhome said.
Rhome said the fire marshal did not rule on where the fire started in the house, whose occupants were not immediately known. No one was injured in the 6 p.m. fire.
The blaze did not appear to be related to a string of arsons last year in the city in Westmoreland County, Rhome added.
There were at least six arsons or suspicious fires in 2017 in Monessen.
Two abandoned structures were set ablaze in January 2017 in the 10th Street area. Also that month, squatters set a fire at 19 Aliquippa Ave.
An arsonist caused minor damage to a house at 327 Marquerite Ave. in March. Three months later, a suspicious fire was extinguished at 708 and 710 Sixth St.
Three firefighters suffered injuries while battling a fire at 632 Summit Ave. A neighbor, Laurel Lee Womack, later confessed to starting the fire, authorities said. Womack, 48, is awaiting trial in the case in Westmoreland County Court.