Firefighters battle flames at abandoned Washington County home

WASHINGTON, Pa. — Firefighters battled a suspicious blaze at an abandoned Washington County home Friday morning.

Authorities said a neighbor noticed flames shooting out of a second-floor window of a house on Broad Street about 4 a.m. and called police.

When emergency crews arrived at the scene, the house was fully engulfed.

The fire chief told Channel 11’s Dave Bondy that they’re calling the fire suspicious, and that there was no electricity going to the house.

“The electric was in the house, but was off at the meter. The gas had already been turned off. So there is nothing from that indication that it would have been caused by gas,” Washington Fire Chief Linn Brookman said.

Another neighbor told Bondy that although the house is abandoned, squatters often are inside. Officials said they don’t believe anyone was inside the home at the time of the fire.

“Usually after the first of the month it’s real hectic,” neighbor Joseph Barnes said. “Abandoned houses always catch fire.”

The fire remains under investigation.

WPXI