The cause of a fire last year in Jeannette that claimed five lives has been ruled undetermined, police Chief Derek Manley said Friday.
A state police fire marshal has spent the past year sifting through evidence from the March 20, 2024, blaze on Guy Street.
Family members and friends gathered Thursday night for a vigil to remember Tyler J. King, 27; Kyson, 7; Kinzleigh, 6; Keagan, 3; and Korbyn, 1 month. Miranda John, King’s fiancee and the children’s mother, and two other children escaped with the help of police and a neighbor.
State Trooper Chet Bell said both the cause of the fire and its origin are undetermined. The amount of damage at the two-story home, which collapsed, made it difficult to come to any other conclusion, he said.
Authorities had to take their time the morning of the fire, which was reported at 12:02 a.m., to locate and recover the five victims, at first digging through the debris by hand and later using an excavator. The charred remnants of the home still stood on Thursday with a memorial of stuffed animals sitting nearby.
“We work in conjunction with the state police fire marshal to fully investigate any fire that results in a death, injury or if there are any suspicious signs or circumstances,” Manley said.
The flames destroyed a neighboring home about 5 feet away. Three residents were able to get out safely. The blaze also damaged sections of fire hose, Jeannette’s ladder truck and other neighboring homes. A Jeannette firefighter suffered a broken elbow in a fall and was taken to a hospital.
Jeannette council honored the five police officers and neighbor who helped rescue John and two boys from the fire.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations poured in from the community to the John family in the aftermath and fundraisers were held on their behalf. John previously told the Trib that support was beautiful and overwhelming.
She and her sons have settled into a new home.