Morning Roundup: Fire damages Dollar Tree in Homestead

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 16:

Fire damages Dollar Tree in Homestead

A fire was reported early Tuesday at a Dollar Tree store in Homestead.

Firefighters, police and paramedics responded to the store, located near Heisel Street, at about 3 a.m., according to TribLive news partner WTAE.

It was unclear if anyone was injured. Allegheny County 911 dispatchers told WTAE that no one was taken to the hospital.

The extent of the damage inside the store also is unknown, though the outside of the building didn’t appear to show visible damage.

No injuries reported in mulch fire in North Hills

There were no injuries reported after a fire broke out Tuesday morning in mulch piles at North Hills business.

Firefighters were called to the fire at Adler & Sons Tree Service in the 1000 block of Middlesex Road in Richland Township.

Business owner Dan Adler told TribLive news partner WTAE that the fire broke out in piles of mulch at the business.

Adler said the flames of this fire were eight to 10 feet high.

“It really does burn like a volcano,” he said. “It’s really bad.”

Beyond the burned mulch, there was no damage to materials or equipment, WTAE reported.

Latest South Side patrol numbers released

Pittsburgh police on Monday released information about the number of weekend arrests and citations from South Side’s East Carson Street business district.

The police force’s South Side Entertainment Patrol made eight traffic stops, five traffic citations, eight non-traffic citations, and 48 parking citations in the Pittsburgh neighborhood, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. A total of 16 cars were towed.

At least two people were arrested, Cruz said.

Charges included careless driving, driving with a suspended license and accidents to attended vehicle, as well as aggravated assault, public intoxication, disorderly conduct and underage drinking, Cruz said.

Cruz said “the majority of the non-traffic citations” were for disorderly conduct, public urination, holding an open container of alcohol in public and smoking marijuana.

Police probe $4K theft of copper transformers

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the theft of $4,000 worth of copper transformers from a Butler County business.

An unknown individual or individuals entered IDL, a business in East Butler, through unlocked doors and disconnected multiple electrical transformers from broken equipment stored there, state police said. The transformers were valued at $4,000.

Anyone with information should call state police in Butler County at 724-284-8100.