Woman killed in Carroll Township house fire
Firefighters work at the scene of a house fire Friday afternoon in Carroll Township.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco was called to this Carroll Township house that caught fire Friday afternoon.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Firefighters work to put out a fire Friday afternoon in Carroll Township.
A 62-year-old woman was killed Friday afternoon in a Carroll Township house fire.
Joann Wilson died at 2:39 p.m., according to a news release from Washington County Coroner Tim Warco.
The cause of Wilson’s death is pending an investigation, Warco said.
The fire call came in about 12:35 p.m. with the report of possible entrapment at the single-family home at 17 Grant St., Carroll Township police Chief Paul Brand said.
Fire crews arrived on the scene eight minutes later, but the house was “fully involved” and “wasn’t able to be entered initially,” Brand said.
The fire was extinguished rapidly, Brand said.
“It came to light that there was a 62-year-old female who lived at the house who was unaccounted for,” he said. “We did find that she was not able to get out of the home and died in the structure.”
Brand said it appeared Wilson attempted to escape the fire, as her body was discovered on a rear, second-story porch of the home. Brand said he believes the destroyed house was a rental property and Wilson was a tenant.
Brand said the cause of the fire has not been determined, but the state police fire marshal will be investigating.
“There’s no suspicion of arson at this point,” Brand said.
He called it “unusual” to have a structure fire in the township, much less one with a fatality.
“It affects the first responders and the fire department guys, the police and paramedics that were all here,” Brand said. “They take their job seriously and when there’s a death it affects everyone in the community.”
Assisting Carroll police and fire at the scene were firefighters from Monessen, Monongahela, Donora, Valley Inn, along with EMS personnel from Allegheny Health Network and Tri Community Ambulance.