Fire in a vacant house on Erie’s west side kept City of Erie firefighters busy for more than three hours Sunday night.
They were called out to 253 West 20th Street near Crandall Street, just before 7 p.m. The first units on the scene reported heavy fire and called for the rest of the city’s fire crews to help battle the blaze.
Because of the potential risk of floors and the roof collapsing, Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Carroll had all available units and a ladder truck fight the fire from outside the burning home. It was just too dangerous for firefighters to enter. Off duty crews were called in to the firehouses as well, to cover the rest of the city in case of other emergency calls.
Chief Erie Fire Marshal Don Sauer said the fire started on the first floor at the rear of the two and a half story home, that housed two apartments. Because the home has been vacant for some time, electric and gas utilities were already shut off, so they were ruled out as a cause of the fire.
Neighbors told fire officials the home had been a problem house, with squatters and illegal activity going on inside. Sauer said Erie fire officials will reach out to city the code enforcement department on Monday to start the process of having the heavily damaged home demolished. Sauer said the fire damage would make it difficult to pinpoint the cause of the fire.