An early morning house fire in Johnstown sent one person to a burn center Wednesday morning.
First responders were dispatched to the 600 block of Ilolite Avenue around 3:00 AM.
A Fire Marshal confirmed to usit was an electrical fire that started in a stairwell and quickly spread to the unit beside it.
Johnstown Fire Chief Bob Statler says there were no smoke detectors in the home.
He says there should be at least one smoke detector on every floor of a residence.
“Of course with the city, a lot of the structures are older structures. Some of them were upgraded but most are original. They have some old wiring. There can be issues with splicing newer and older wiring together. Sometimes that’s the cause. What ends up happening is the fires go undetected for a while before anybody sees them,” he says.
Statler adds, if you live in an older home, make sure any wiring issues, switch problems, or broken lights are fixed by an electrician (don’t do it yourself).
Crews were able to battle the blaze quickly, which Statler says is critical when dealing with row homes because of how fast it can spread to the homes beside it.
The unit where the fire started, and the one beside it, are badly damaged.
