A fire destroyed a Jeannette garage and damaged the rear of the attached vacant house Monday afternoon.
A small heater exploded while a contractor was working in the garage, Jeannette fire officials said.
“I lost everything — all my tools, two tractors, a motorcycle and weed cutters,” said David Kerlin, a contractor who rented the garage at 722 Allwine Ave. “I lost a $12,000 zero-turn lawn mower that I just bought. I had all kinds of stuff in there.”
“I probably lost over $50,000,” said Kerlin, who lives on Allwine in a house next to the garage. He said he was able to push his truck from the garage to a neighbor’s property, with some assistance.
The fire, which was reported at 4:46 p.m., was advanced and had extended into the rear of the house when firefighters arrived on the scene, said Jeannette Fire Capt. Shawn Fogle. The fire went through the garge roof. It took about 20 minutes to get the fire under control, Fogle said.
Kerlin said he was using a small heater connected to a propane gas tank for several hours to keep warm, when it exploded. He said he suffered smoke inhalation.
No firefighters were injured, Fogle said.
The cause of the fire will be investigated by a state police fire marshal, Fogle said.
The property is owned by Bruce A. Matthews, according to the Westmoreland County property records.
Kerlin said the heat from the fire blew out one second-story window and damaged another one on his next-door house.
Arlene Ralph, who lives on Allwine across from the fire scene, credited the quick response from the firefighters.
“They were here real quick and got it out real quick,” Ralph said.
Jeannette firefighters were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Penn Township, Penn Borough and Hempfield.