Crime & Safety

Fire Destroys Cottage on Connoquenessing Creek

Owner was a work while fire spread through the home.

Fire destroyed a cottage on the banks of the Connoquenessing Creek in Forward Township Tuesday.

Evans City Area Fire Capt. Brian Greenawalt said firefighters were called to the home on Horseshoe Lane off Route 528 at about 9:45 a.m.

When firefighters arrived in the area, flames already were shooting through the roof of the one-story building, he said. Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to a pickup truck parked in the driveway of the cottage.

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Greenawalt said the cause of the fire is still undetermined, but does not appear to be suspicious. The blaze is believed to have started in the corner of a back room on the first floor of the home, he said.

A neighbor said Kraig Martin, who was at work when the fire broke out, owns the cottage.

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Greenawalt said a neighbor informed firefighters that the cottage is not Martin’s primary residence. The fire rendered the home inhabitable, he said. Most items inside the also house were destroyed.

Volunteers from the Zelienople, Harmony, Meridian Connoquenessing and Callery fire departments assisted Evans City firefighters at the scene Tuesday.

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