Jul 14, 2020 3 min read

Several Washington residents were displaced Sunday after a fire broke out in an apartment building on Donnan Avenue.

When crews arrived on scene about 1:30 p.m., a fourth-floor window frame and the attic of the building at 395 Donnan Ave. were on fire, according to Washington fire Chief Gerald Coleman.

“There were no injuries, and everyone got out of the building safely,” Coleman said.

Nick Griffith, the director of conventional housing for Arbors Management, said he was relieved Sunday afternoon to know that no one was hurt.

Arbors Management is the company that manages the apartments.

“I’m so thankful the fire department was able to show up so quickly,” he said.

Coleman said the fire was contained to the upper floors, with “moderate to severe” damage in the fourth-floor apartment where the fire started. He said crews had to pull some ceilings down in an adjoining apartment and that the lower apartments had some water damage.

“All of our assisting companies came in and did an outstanding job,” Coleman said. “There was a lot of fire in that attic. The crews were able to get up there and put the fire out. It’s a very large building. There was extensive overhaul and salvage to be done.”

Assisting at the scene were firefighters from North Strabane, Peters, South Strabane, Chartiers, Bentleyville and Canton. North Franklin firefighters manned Washington’s station during the call, and Ambulance and Chair and the county’s Department of Public Safety helped set up a rehabilitation area for crews due to the heat.

“It’s summertime in Southwestern Pennsylvania. We just have to plan for the heat,” Coleman said.

He said that while there’s no reason to believe the fire was suspicious, the state police fire marshal is investigating the cause.

Griffith said that because the building’s electric was shut off Sunday, about 15 residents in the 13 occupied units couldn’t stay there overnight. Arbors Management put them up in a nearby hotel Sunday night and moved most of them back into their units by the end of the day Monday, Griffith said.

“We’re in the process of restoring electricity to the unaffected units and making sure it’s safe,” he said Monday afternoon. “I just want to give kudos to the emergency responders and our residents for being patient. Everybody kind of worked together as a team.”

Coleman also thanked all of the assisting crews for working on “such a hot day.”

“Yesterday, we had more firefighters than there was work, and that’s a good thing,” he said.