Woman killed in Cecil Township house fire
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Firefighters inspect the remnants of a house at 72 Swihart Road in Cecil Township after fire destroyed the structure and killed the resident Tuesday morning.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Firefighters douse hot spots at 72 Swihart Road in Cecil Township after fire destroyed the structure and killed the resident Tuesday morning.
An 81-year-old woman died in a fire in Cecil Township early Tuesday morning that destroyed her residence and a neighboring house on the same property.
Muse fire Chief Cory Wonderly said firefighters were called to 72 Swihart Road shortly before 5:30 a.m. and found the structure engulfed in flames and a nearby house severely damaged.
After extinguishing the fire, crews at the scene found the woman’s body inside the house in back, farther away from the roadway.
The Washington County coroner identified the victim as Rose Churray. The cause and manner of her death are pending an autopsy.
No one else was inside Churray’s house at the time and no other injuries were reported, Wonderly said. No one was in the larger, neighboring house, which is on the same property as the home where Churray was living.
“The back building was on the ground,” Wonderly said of what firefighters saw when they arrived at the scene. “It’s just rubble.”
A motorist on Route 980 apparently saw an orange glow of the flames in the distance and called 911 to report the fire, Wonderly said.
The state police fire marshal visited the scene investigating the cause of the blaze. Wonderly said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire and where exactly it started in the rear house.
Muse firefighters were assisted at the scene by departments from Lawrence, Cecil, North Strabane, Canonsburg and Peters.