Property owner cited day after fatal fire; officials say buildings not up to code

JEANNETTE, Pa. — The owner of a Westmoreland County building that burned down on Monday, resulting in the death of an elderly woman, will be cited.

The Jeannette Fire Chief told Channel 11 no one should have been living there.

"It was a violation of city ordinance to have somebody living there without a valid permit or valid inspection," said Bill Frye, chief of the Jeannette Fire Department.

The building was not up to code when the fire broke out on South 7th Street.

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The property owner is being cited for not being up to code on inspections.

Frye filed six citations, one for each unit in the building.

"We did make numerous attempts, I believe three attempts in the last year by mail and letters advising him he was in violation. We got no response out of him," Frye said.

Channel 11 contacted the owner, Robert Struhala, who said he is disappointed in this and that he had hard-wired alarms in the basement of the building. Struhala also questioned the accountability of city officials, saying if they had an issue with his property, they should've taken more action.

PHOTOS: Massive fire destroys Jeannette building

Frye said the inspections are to ensure those living there are safe.

"Make sure the detectors are working, make sure building is up to code, make sure it's not overcrowded," Frye said.

The woman killed was identified as Shirley B. Kocherhans, 87.

Her granddaughter is in the hospital with burns and smoke inhalation after jumping into the arms of firefighters from a window.

"To see something like this happen where a smoke detector might have given them a minute to get out, and we have a fatality seven feet from inside a door, what would another 30 seconds have been?" Frye said.

A firefighter suffered burns while attempting to save the woman who died.

"He got ten feet into the room, (but) she was already deceased," Frye said. "The room flashed over; he damaged his fire gear. It burned the dial out of his hood and he was able to get himself out before he got into more trouble."

Firefighters say flames were so strong, they melted a gas line behind the wood-frame complex and natural gas was blowing out when responders arrived, only adding to the intensity.

Related: 4 houses catch fire in Lawrence Co.

"All the popping sounds, like glass popping,” said resident Mark Taylor, who has lived there for about 20 years. “Looked out my kitchen and saw flames out the back porch."

Taylor made it out with only the clothes on his back and his two dogs.

"I hope everything will work out," Taylor said. "I don't have anything, we don't have anything anymore except our lives, and that's the main thing. We can always rebuild."

City firefighters were only a few blocks away from the scene, but flames and smoke were already pouring from every window and door of the building that was more than a century old.

"My part went up pretty quick," Taylor said. "(The fire) went to everybody's apartment, just boom boom boom boom. And the lady next door to me, I don't think she made it."

The state fire marshal and coroner are investigating.

You can donate to some of the families affected by clicking HERE and HERE.

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