Man dies in Charleroi fire
A fire at this 118 Rear Fallowfield Ave. home that killed a man had the potential to be even worse, the Charleroi fire chief said.
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Emergency officials gather Saturday at the scene of a fire where a Charleroi man died.
CHARLEROI – A Charleroi woman was met with a gruesome discovery when she went to investigate smoke early Saturday while she was heading to work.
Amber Arnold said what she thought was a pile of smoldering logs and brush turned out to be the remains of a Charleroi man who caught fire and died at his rundown residence.
The Washington County coroner’s office said James Harbaugh, 62, was pronounced dead at 6:42 a.m. at the scene of the fire at his 118 Rear Fallowfield Ave. residence.
“We didn’t even know it was him,” Arnold said at the scene. “I saw smoke and said, ‘Let’s go check it out.'”
She said she screamed in an attempt to see if anyone was inside the house before calling Washington County 911 to report the fire.
The cause and manner of Harbaugh’s death were pending further investigation, Coroner S. Timothy Warco said in a news release.
Charleroi fire Chief Bob Whiten Jr. said Harbaugh had health problems, and that he had called for an ambulance a few times a week. The man was living without water and natural gas service, Whiten said.
“He shouldn’t have been living in there,” Whiten said, referring to the small, two-story house partially covered with vinyl siding and asphalt shingles. Trash was scattered on the yard in front of the house, which Whiten believed was owned by an absentee landlord. The property is owned by Kendrick Lorenzo of Douglasville, Ga., according to online county records.
Whiten said the state police fire marshal ruled the 5:10 a.m. fire accidental in nature. The blaze started in the living room, Whiten said.
He said firefighters were lucky nothing exploded because there were 13 oxygen tanks in the house, along with an electric oxygen unit.
Firefighters from Charleroi, Bentleyville, North Charleroi, Fallowfield Township, Stockdale and Monessen were on the scene for several hours.
Anyone with information about Harbaugh’s family or friends is asked to call the coroner’s office at 724-228-6785.
Managing editor Linda M. Ritzer contributed to this report.