Homicide charges filed in 2017 fatal fire

JEANETTE, Pa. — Homicide charges were filed on Tuesday in a fatal fire that injured one woman and killed a grandmother last April in Jeanette.

Brian Rendon allegedly told police he's the one on surveillance video in the alley behind the townhouses before the deadly fire started.

PHOTOS: Massive fire destroys Jeannette buildings

Investigators said Rendon started the fire on the back porch of the townhouses and the flames eventually spread to all six of them on South 7th Street.

Officials say Rendon used a lighter and spray deodorant can as a makeshift blow torch to start the fire.

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People living there had to jump out of windows and dodge flames to escape.

A young woman was badly injured and her grandmother, Shirley Kocherhans, 87, died as a result of the fire.

The owner of the units was cited after the fire because the townhouses did not have working smoke detectors and no one should be living in them, according to officials.

Eleven people were left homeless by the fire.

Cox Media Group