‘Unattended cooking’ believed to be the cause, fire chief said; no injuries reported
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, CoatesvilleTimes.com
COATESVILLE — When city firefighters arrived at a reported rowhouse fire about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of Coates Street, they found one house ablaze with flames reaching into the homes on either side, said Coatesville Acting Fire Chief James Lentz.
The sounds of sustained sirens unnerved residents in a city terrorized by a string of 70 area arsons from February 2008 to March 2009, but Lentz said investigators did not suspect foul play.
Preliminary indications suggested “unattended cooking” caused the fire, Lentz said. He said it was brought under control in about an hour and a half with no injuries to firefighters or residents.
“We were very fortunate,” he said.
Lentz said the block consists of nine connected homes and several unconnected ones. All nine rowhomes sustained damage, some of it severe, but one family was able to return to their residence. The other eight families are receiving assistance from the Red Cross, Lentz said.
Dave Schrader, a Red Cross spokesman, said the eight families included 13 adults and five children. He said they had been given money for food, clothing and lodging for at least three nights. He said the agency will follow up to ensure they have what they need.
City residents rallied last night on social-media sites to organize donations of food and clothing for the victims, some of which were being collected by the Tabernacle Baptist Church.
