UPDATE: Crews Battle Blaze at Vacant Cranberry Township Building

Firefighters battled an early morning blaze at a vacant multi-unit apartment building along Mars Crider Road in Cranberry Township on Wednesday.

were called to the empty building around 1 a.m. Located on a winding driveway, the two-story white structure on wooded property is not visible from the road.

Fire administrator Mark Nanna said the older building had been converted into apartments. No one had lived there for some time, he said.

The building is on the future site of North Catholic High School. It is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Father Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Pittsburgh Diocese, said the abandoned building had been used by area firefighters for training exercises. The complex was one of two vacant wooden buildings scheduled to be demolished to make room for the school, he said.

Cranberry Fire Chief Brian Kovac said there was training at the abandoned building Tuesday, but it did not involve his fire department. Cranberry police were unable to confirm which fire department trained at the site on Tuesday. 

Because of the fire, the Diocese plans to exercise an already-established permit to demolish the building, Lengwin said.

"The two wooden structures up there have been closed for a long time," he said. "All the utilities were shut off, the place was secure and there was a chain put up across the property. We had the permits to tear it down."

Kovac said flames already had engulfed the second floor when firefighters arrived on the scene.

"We contained it fairly quickly," he said. "We were able to keep it to that second floor."

Firefighters were back in the station around 5:30 a.m., Nanna said. No one was injured.

Volunteers from the Adams and Marshall Township fire departments assisted on the scene, he said. Kovac said his department is investigating the fire. Firefighters also are in talks with the state police fire marshal for the investigation, he said.

Check back with Patch for updates.